[Gamma interferon therapy of cancer patients]

A phase I and a phase II study of recombinant gamma-interferon (S 6810) were conducted on a cooperative basis involving 11 and 57 institutions, respectively. In the phase I study, a total of 40 courses were administered to 31 patients. High fever exceeding 38 degrees C with chills was observed in approximately 80%. Other toxicities were fatigue (50%), gastrointestinal symptoms (30-40%), changes in hepatic enzymes, and hematological toxicities (20-30%). Dose-limiting factors were judged to be hypotension, leucopenia and CNS toxicity. Since the optimal dose for the phase II study was considered to be 5 X 10(6) U/m2 by daily chronic schedule, a further study was conducted using this dose. Response rates were as follows: 14.3% (renal cell cancer), 11.8% (multiple myeloma) 40.0% (chronic lymphocytic leukemia), 16.7% (non-Hodgkin lymphoma), and 67% (mycosis fungoides). Complete response was obtained in one case each of renal cell cancer, malignant lymphoma and mycosis fungoides. Moreover, intermittent high-dose gamma-interferon against renal cell cancer induced a response rate of 21.4%, significantly higher than the 8.6% obtained by continuous administration. Local injection against cutaneous malignancies resulted in a 55.3% response rate. Anti-viral effect against herpes zoster infection was also preliminarily evaluated. Among 4 cases, 3 responded subjectively well to local injection of gamma-interferon, which is a hopeful result, although a randomized trial is still needed.