Rationale for the utilization of interleukin-4, an immune-recognition induced cytokine, in cancer immunotherapy

R Costello1, C Lipcey, D Olive

  • 1Unité INSERM U119 Cancérologie et Thérapeutique Expérimental, Marseille, France.

The European Journal of Medicine
|January 1, 1993
PubMed

Interleukin-2 use for advanced cancer treatment has demonstrated that cytokines are of interest not only in the field of immunology but also in oncology. Interleukin-2 is only one member of the ever-growing family of immune recognition-induced lymphokines. Interleukin-4, a cytokine with pleiotropic effects, shares some common properties with interleukin-2. Availability of recombinant interleukin-4 has led to a better knowledge of this cytokine's functions, and also makes clinical trials possible. This brief review discusses the in vitro and in vivo data that support a potential use of interleukin-4 in cancer immunotherapy.

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