title: New developments in the use of cytokines for cancer therapy.
abstract: Cytokines, the pleiotropic immune regulatory proteins, are involved in the regulation of cell growth, differentiation and functional activation. Novel cytokines have been enumerated in rapid succession and entered the clinical arena. IL-2 is well recognized for its antitumor effects and is accepted therapy for numerous malignancies. IL-l and IL-11 are important as thrombopoetic factors while IL-6 has been introduced in clinical trials as a platelet growth factor and as an antitumor agent. IL-4 has shown growth inhibitory effects against many solid tumor cell lines in vitro, but its direct effect on human tumors in vivo remains to be explored. IL-7 may be an important addition to the current strategies of adoptive immunotherapy. IL-12 plays a fundamental role in activating antitumor cellular immunity. When given with tumor associated antigens, IL-12 has proven effective against many forms of metastatic solid tumors. Immunotoxins appear to be promising, though the antigenicity of the molecule and antibody development aspects remain to be resolved. The current review will focus on the clinical use of novel cytokines for the treatment of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, State University of New York, Syracuse 13210, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maini
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Morse
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Haas
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016298:Hematopoietic Cell Growth Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D000922:Immunotoxins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007378:Interleukins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D016207:Cytokines; D016298:Hematopoietic Cell Growth Factors; D000922:Immunotoxins; D007378:Interleukins