title: Treatment of renal cell carcinoma with escalating doses of alpha-interferon.
abstract: Forty-one patients with advanced renal cell cancer started treatment with recombinant alpha-interferon intramuscularly, beginning at a dose of 5 x 10(6) U x 3/week, progressively increasing doses every week, from 5 x 10(6) U x 3/week to 10 x 10(6) U x 3/week, to the highest dose of 15 x 10(6) U x 3/week. No complete response was achieved, partial response was achieved in 6 (13%) patients with a median duration of 45.2 (13-134) weeks. The majority of side effects from interferon treatment evaluated according to WHO classification were seen during the first 2 months and they were fever (after interferon administration) in 95% patients, chills (51%), flu like syndrome (65%), fatigue (87%), anorexia (80%), worsening in performance status (56%), nausea and vomiting (19%), weight loss (> 10% during therapy) (26%), leukopenia (14%), anemia (75%), neurological symptoms (43%), psychological symptoms (19%) and dyspnea (9%). The results are similar to other studies and toxicity was only moderate.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Medical Oncology, Metaxa Cancer Hospital, Piraeus, Greece.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tsavaris
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mylonakis
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bacoyiannis
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsoutsos
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karabelis
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kosmidis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000628:therapy*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins