Treatment of leukemia relapse after bone marrow transplantation with interferon-alpha and interleukin 2.
A 16-year-old girl with refractory AML received unmanipulated BMT from an unrelated donor. Leukemia relapse occurred 82 days later. The patient was then treated with IL-2 1.8 x 10(6) U/m2 for 5 days per week and 2.5 MU/m2 IFN-alpha three times per week. Toxicities included fever, skin rash, somnolence and a generalized seizure. Treatment was stopped after 2 weeks. Acute GVHD developed at the end of therapy and the patient's leukemia went into remission. She died of fungal pneumonia 30 days later. We conclude that a combination of cytokines may be useful in treating relapsed leukemia after BMT.
Shaffer
L
L
Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030, USA.
Giralt
S
S
Champlin
R
R
Chan
K W
KW
D000293:Adolescent; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007938:Leukemia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D012008:Recurrence
D016898:Interferon-alpha; D007376:Interleukin-2