Interleukin-2 therapy of Langerhans cell histiocytosis

A 20-month-old girl was diagnosed with Langerhans cell histiocytosis on the basis of a seborrheic skin rash, multiple punched out bony lesions, and skin biopsy findings. Combination therapy including alpha-interferon, vincristine, vindesine, cyclophosphamide, etoposide, cisplatin, betamethasone, THP-adriamycin, cytarabine and methotrexate was ineffective. Because cyclophosphamide enhanced lesion growth within the skull, we administered an intravenous infusion of interleukin-2 with remarkable efficacy. The reduction in lesion size with interleukin-2 treatment paralleled the increase in the percentage of CD16-positive natural killer cells in the peripheral blood.