Recombinant interferon-alpha-2b treatment of hairy-cell leukaemia: experience with a low-dose schedule.
50 patients with hairy cell leukaemia (HCL) were treated with recombinant interferon (IFN) alpha-2b 2.0 x 10(6) IU/m2 subcutaneously three times weekly to evaluate the efficacy of low-dose IFN therapy in inducing and maintaining remission of the disease. At the time of this report 48 patients, of whom 22 were splenectomized, had been treated for at least 3 months and were considered evaluable for response. The median observation time on IFN-alpha-2b was 11 months (range 3 to 20). 4 cases with atypical disease (spongy lymphoid myelofibrosis) were also included. All patients responded to IFN. After 3 months 11/48 patients (23%) had achieved a partial remission (PR) with normalization of peripheral blood values. After 6 months 27/43 patients (63%) had achieved a favourable response; complete remission (CR) was recorded in 4 and PR in 23 patients. The proportion of patients with favourable responses (CR + PR) increased with the duration of therapy and after 12 months of therapy 23/28 (82%) patients showed CR or PR, 9 patients (32%) being in CR. Splenectomized patients disclosed a trend towards a more rapid response. It is concluded that IFN-alpha-2b is a highly effective first-line therapy for HCL.
Hasselbalch
H
H
Department of Medicine, Hvidovre Hospital, Hellerup, Denmark.
Braide
I
I
Lisse
I
I
Röckert
L L
LL
Swolin
B
B
Carneskog
J
J
Hagberg
H
H
Hippe
E
E
Jensen
M K
MK
Lundin
P
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007943:Leukemia, Hairy Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012074:Remission Induction; D013156:Splenectomy
D007370:Interferon Type I; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins