title: Polycythemia vera treated with recombinant interferon-alpha 2a: evidence of a selective effect on the malignant clone.
abstract: We periodically analyzed bone-marrow cytogenetic features in 8 patients belonging to a series of 38 subjects with polycythemia vera (PV), all treated with recombinant interferon-alpha 2a (rIFN-alpha) at a weekly dose of 9,000,000 IU. Six out of these 8 patients never showed any chromosome alterations, while 2 displayed at diagnosis the presence of trisomy 8 in all bone-marrow metaphases. Interestingly enough, in these 2 patients rIFN-alpha treatment was able to induce not only complete hematological response but also the disappearance of trisomy 8, as shown by conventional cytogenetic investigation and fluorescence in situ hybridization performed on bone-marrow cells after 1 year of treatment. This finding indicates that, as previously shown in chronic myeloid leukemia, in PV rIFN-alpha can also eradicate the malignant clone by means of a selective effect on bone-marrow transformed cells.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Scienze Mediche, Università degli Studi, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Massaro
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Foa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pomati
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: LaTargia
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iurlo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clerici
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caldiera
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fornier
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Maiolo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D002898:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8; D003582:Cytogenetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008677:Metaphase; D011087:Polycythemia Vera / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014314:Trisomy
chemical_list: D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins