title: Immunochemotherapy with recombinant interleukin-2 and adriamycin in primary hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2) and adriamycin were administered systemically to treat nine patients (age 15.5-68 years, mean 48.9 +/- 15.5 years) with far advanced primary hepatocellular carcinoma. Three patients were newly diagnosed, and the remaining patients had received surgery, transcatheter arterial embolization, chemotherapy and other treatments but without improvement. rIL-2 was given at a dose of 10,000 to 30,000 units/kg every 8 hours for consecutive 9 days, and on the fifth day, a single dose of adriamycin 30 to 60 mg/m2 was administered. Four patients interrupted the immunotherapy because of severe intolerable side effects, 4 patients completed one course and the remaining one received 2 courses of treatment. Various adverse reactions were encountered, however, they subsided promptly after stopping therapy. All patients failed to respond to the regimen. Primary hepatic tumors continued to enlarge in 8 patients and remained unchanged in one, and pulmonary metastasis also increased in size and number in 4 patients. Transient decrease in serum alpha-fetoprotein was found in 6 patients. These results suggest that systemic IL-2 immunotherapy, even in combination with chemotherapy, is not effective for the treatment of far advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. However, in view of its immune amplifying effect, rIL-2 in combination with other treatment modalities may still be worth trying in early stages of hepatocellular carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Republic of China.
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D004317:Doxorubicin