title: The effect of alpha-, beta- and gamma-interferon on the growth of breast cancer cell lines.
abstract: We investigated the antiproliferative effect of different concentrations (10, 100, 1000 IU/ml) of alpha-, beta- and gamma-interferons (IFN) on breast cancer cell lines. Cell lines were treated with IFN, in the absence or in the presence of estradiol for 9 days, and the effect on growth was evaluated as variation in DNA content. Inhibitory effect varied as a function of the type of interferon and cell line. Alpha-IFN and gamma-IFN were effective only at 1000 IU/ml and not in all cell lines, whereas a maximum effect was observed for beta-IFN regardless of the steroid receptor status of cell lines. In fact, a significant growth inhibition was observed at the intermediate concentration of 100 IU/ml in all but MDA-MB231 cell lines. Moreover, in both estrogen-receptor positive cell lines, beta-IFN counteracted growth stimulation induced by estradiol and showed a strong antiestrogenic activity. In conclusion, our results show that beta-IFN is the most active among the IFNs tested and suggest its usefulness in the treatment of all breast cancers, irrespective of their steroid receptor status.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coradini
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Biffi
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pirronello
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Fronzo
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000494:pharmacology; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000494:pharmacology; D007372:Interferons / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007700:Kinetics; D009376:Neoplasms, Hormone-Dependent / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D004958:Estradiol; D016899:Interferon-beta; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D007372:Interferons