Interferon gamma treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Eight patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) were administered perilesional injections of human recombinant interferon gamma (IFN-gamma), and the response was evaluated by colposcopy and exfoliative cytology and then by histopathology. In all patients, colposcopic and cytologic findings improved after two to four injections of IFN-gamma and the cytologic findings reverted to normal in five of these eight patients. All five were free of dysplastic lesions. The other three patients with positive cytology and positive colposcopy after completion of IFN-gamma treatment underwent hysterectomy or laser conization, and histopathologic examination revealed residual dysplastic lesions. On the other hand, a control study revealed that only one of eight patients showed spontaneous regression during the 3-month observation period. During the course of these treatments, keratinizing cells were often present in the cervical smears and isolated cell keratinization was often evident in the residual dysplastic lesions of the surgical specimens. These observations suggest that IFN-gamma treatment is an effective therapeutic method for CIN lesions and that IFN-gamma has the potential to differentiate nonkeratinizing squamous cells into keratinizing cells.