title: A pilot study of low-dose recombinant interleukin-2 for acute lymphoblastic malignancy after unmanipulated allogeneic blood and marrow transplantation.
abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of low-dose recombinant interleukin-2(IL-2) administered to patients with acute lymphoblastic malignancy at high-risk of relapse after unmanipulated HLA-identical or HLA-haploidentical allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). We studied 19 patients with acute lymphoblastic malignancy who underwent IL-2 treatment for a high probability of disease recurrence after allo-HSCT between July 2004 and June 2006 at Peking University Institute of Hematology. With a median follow-up of 6 months (range, 3-19 months) after the first IL-2 therapy, 14 of 15 evaluable patients in our cohort were disease-free (93.33%), whereas one patient in 'high risk' pretransplantation category relapsed. Toxicities from IL-2 were mainly fever, pain, redness and swelling at the injection site. Four patients left the study because of hyperpyrexia. Local and reversible chronic GVHD was observed in 6 of 15 patients (40%). Similar cGVHD occurrences were observed between the two groups of patients undergoing HLA-identical HSCT (three of seven patients) and HLA-haploidentical HSCT (two of six patients), respectively. In conclusion, low-dose IL-2 subcutaneous administration from 100 days for a prolonged period could be a safe and effective strategy to prevent relapse in acute lymphoblastic malignancy patients with high risk of recurrence after unmanipulated allo-HSCT.
authors.affiliation: Peking University Institute of Hematology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: K-Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Y-H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: D-H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: L-P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: X-J
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D012307:Risk Factors; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C508594:IL2 protein, human; D007376:Interleukin-2