Treatment of leukemia relapse after bone marrow transplantation with interferon-alpha and interleukin 2

A 16-year-old girl with refractory AML received unmanipulated BMT from an unrelated donor. Leukemia relapse occurred 82 days later. The patient was then treated with IL-2 1.8 x 10(6) U/m2 for 5 days per week and 2.5 MU/m2 IFN-alpha three times per week. Toxicities included fever, skin rash, somnolence and a generalized seizure. Treatment was stopped after 2 weeks. Acute GVHD developed at the end of therapy and the patient's leukemia went into remission. She died of fungal pneumonia 30 days later. We conclude that a combination of cytokines may be useful in treating relapsed leukemia after BMT.