title: The effects of 13-cis retinoic acid and interferon-alpha in chronic myelogenous leukemia cells in vivo in patients.
abstract: The effects of the administration of a 3-day course of 13-cis retinoic acid in combination with interferon a [RA/IFN] on the leukemia cells was measured in vivo in 43 patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia. The administration of RA/IFN was associated with a significant fall in the white blood cell count of patients with chronic-phase disease and with a fall in the percentage S-phase cells in CML patients regardless of the stage of their leukemia. In two thirds of the patients studied the administration of RA/IFN was also associated with an increase in marrow apoptosis. The cytokine combination also suppressed bcl-2 and myc expression in a minority of patients and such expression appears to be associated with response to a treatment regimen which includes RA/IFN. These studies are the first to directly assess the effects of the combination of RA/IFN on chronic myelogenous leukemia cells in vivo in patients. These effects, if seen in other malignant diseases, could account for the therapeutic benefit which has been associated with the administration of this combination of biological agents to patients with malignant disease.
authors.affiliation: Rush Cancer Institute, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Lukes's Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Handa
authors.forename: U P
authors.initials: UP
authors.lastname: Hegde
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Kotelnikov
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Mundle
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gaskin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raza
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Preisler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015474:Isotretinoin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007958:Leukocyte Count / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc; D015474:Isotretinoin