Clinical, serologic, and immunologic effects of human leukocyte interferon in HBsAg-positive primary hepatocellular carcinoma
✍ Scribed by Prem V. Nair; Myron J. Tong; Raymond Kempf; Ruth Co; Shou-Dong Lee; Cheryl L. Venturi
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1985
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 499 KB
- Volume
- 56
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0008-543X
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✦ Synopsis
Five patients with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive chronic hepatitis and histologically confirmed primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC) were treated with 3 X lo6 units/day of partially purified human leukocyte interferon intramuscularly for 2 consecutive months. During interferon therapy, one patient had stable disease, while the remaining four patients had progressive disease. Following interferon therapy no changes were noted in the hepatitis B viral markers or in serum alphafetoprotein levels. Data on the effects of human leukocyte interferon on lymphocyte subpopulations and on the cytotoxic activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells against a hepatitis B surface antigen expressing primary hepatocellular carcinoma cell line are presented.
Cancer 56:1018-1022, 1985.
HIGH INCIDENCE of primary hepatocellular carci-
A noma (PHC) has been reported in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In areas with a high HBV carrier rate, PHC is one of the most common malignancies among male patients. I-6 No effective therapy exists for PHC, and the majority of such patients die within 3 to 6 months of A number of chemotherapeutic treatments for this disease have yielded uniformly poor response rates.6-15 Thus, new modalities for treatment of PHC must be evaluated. In addition to anti-viral activity, interferon is known to possess antiproliferative and immunomodulating properties. I3-l6 Tumor regression after treatment with interferon has been observed in multiple myeloma, nodular lymphomas and breast This preliminary report details our experience using partially purified human leukocyte interferon in the treatment of five patients with HBsAg-positive PHC.