[Interferon-alpha in the treatment of hematologic neoplasms]

This report aims to review briefly the current status of treatment of haematological malignancies with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha). Overall hairy cell leukemia and chronic myelogenous leukemia appear to be most sensitive to IFN-alpha. We started to investigate, how interferon exerts its antileukemic activity and in which way interferon therapy can be optimized. Our preliminary results fail to support the view of interferon mediated enhancement of host responses. They rather indicate direct effects of IFN on leukemic cells in vitro. By means of IFN-dependent biological markers (e.g. beta-2-microglobulin, neopterin) clinically effective but atoxic doses of IFN-alpha could be defined for HCL and CML. In final conclusion, the recent studies on the clinical efficacy of IFN-alpha revealed its potent antitumoral effect in hematological malignancies. However, the further proof of the potential benefit of IFN treatment versus conventional therapeutic strategies remains to be elucidated.