IFN-lambda therapy: current status and future perspectives

Ahmed Lasfar1, Andrew Zloza2, Karine A Cohen-Solal3

  • 1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA; Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.

Drug Discovery Today
|November 11, 2015
PubMed

Interferon-lambda (IFN-λ), the most recently described type III IFN, plays a crucial part by acting on specific cell types, controlling viral infections and establishing robust innate immunity against cancer. In contrast to IFN-α or IFN-γ, IFN-λ has a restricted cell response pattern, which could make this new IFN a better choice for disease targeting and reducing adverse events. Although IFN-λ is considered to have pivotal roles in cancer, viral infections and autoimmune diseases, clinical trials have only been conducted for treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection. In this review, we discuss the current and the potential clinical applications of IFN-λ in the context of current IFN therapy.

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