Low dose IL-2 in patients with steroid-dependent dysimmune manifestations associated with myelodysplastic syndromes:...

Systemic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases can be associated with myelodysplastic syndromes. Current treatments (steroids, immunosuppressive agents, biologics) are unsatisfactory because of their low response rate, dependence or adverse events. We aimed at evaluating the effects of low doses of IL-2 (ld-IL2) as a regulatory T-cell inducer in this context.

We treated three patients with ld-IL2 with myelodysplastic syndromes and an associated dysimmune disorder (polymyalgia rheumatic, relapsing polychondritis associated with Sweet's syndrome and vasculitis with cutaneous and joint involvement, respectively). All three patients were dependent on steroids and refractory to biologics or azacitidine. They received doses of 1-1.5 million units of proleukin/day during 5 days and then every fortnight.

The treatment led to a clinical improvement and steroid sparing in 2/3 patients with no serious adverse events, and no progression of the disease.

Our results support the investigation of ld-IL2 in MDS associated with immune disorders in controlled clinical studies.