title: Cytokine-based biotherapy of gastrointestinal tumors.
abstract: Over the past 20 years the administration of cytokines has emerged as an important fourth modality for the treatment of human cancer. Advances in the field of therapy of gastrointestinal tumors have become a major focus of current research, given the lack of progress of conventional antineoplastic therapy in most of these tumors. Among the heterogeneous group of gastrointestinal malignancies, novel therapeutic strategies have been employed for each individual tumor type, and cytokines (interferon-alpha) have gained an established role in the treatment of advanced carcinoid tumors. Although our understanding of the mechanisms of biological response modification is still limited, further improvement in the management of gastrointestinal malignancies can be expected from multimodality therapy regimens employing cytokines in combination with other biological response modifiers, chemotherapeutic agents, active-specific immunotherapy, and immunotoxin- and radionuclide-conjugated monoclonal antibodies. A wide range of clinical and preclinical studies have been conducted in colorectal carcinoma; however, potential therapeutic benefit of cytokine-based biotherapy has not been fully defined. Therefore, largescale, i.e., multicenter, studies are required to quantify the potential therapeutic effects of cytokines in gastrointestinal tumors.
authors.affiliation: Abteilung Hämatologie und Onkologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Buer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kirchner
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schomburg
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schüler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manns
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lopez-Hänninen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duensing
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Poliwoda
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Atzpodien
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D016207:Cytokines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004357:Drug Synergism; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D007155:Immunologic Factors; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D005472:Fluorouracil