Utility of interferons in clinical radiotherapy

Interferons are being tested in the treatment of a wide range of malignancies. Clinical experience has indicated that interferons may have relatively few side effects compared to other commonly used antineoplastic agents. In addition, they have shown activity as radiation response modifiers in various experimental systems. Thus, as natural biological compounds, interferons may prove to be superior to other radiation response modifiers now on clinical trial in radiotherapy. In this paper radiation-interferon interactions are reviewed and the evaluation of the usefulness of interferons as an adjuvant in radiotherapy is discussed.