Response to and concentration of interleukin-2 in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

To seek beneficial immunomodulation with interleukin-2 (IL-2) for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), a study was conducted of the response to and concentration of IL-2 by mononuclear cells (MNC) from 45 NPC patients who had been pathologically verified, but pre-treatment, at the time they were studied. Thirty-eight normal healthy controls were studied simultaneously. Lymphocyte subsets did not change much after IL-2 stimulation in either NPC patients or the controls. A decreased IL-2 concentration was found in NPC, and a trend of inverse correlation to clinical staging was detected; the more advanced stage, the less concentration of IL-2. It was concluded that there was a normal response to and decreased concentration of, IL-2 in NPC patients. Whether decreased concentration of IL-2 in NPC patients resulted from decreased production or increased consumption is not clear. A further research of IL-2 immunomodulation in NPC patients should be done before its clinical application.