title: The effectiveness of interferon-alpha subtypes alternation for metastasis from renal cell carcinoma.
abstract: Interferon-alpha (IFN-α) has been used in systemic treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). IFN-α has at least 14 subtypes, each of which has different biological activity. There have been reports that mRCC resistant to an IFN-α treatment responded to another IFN-α subtype. This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of alternation of different IFN-α subtypes for mRCC that did not respond to initial IFN-α treatment. In our department and associated institutions, alternating therapy of IFN-α was provided for 15 initial IFN-α refractory mRCC cases from June 2005 to September 2008. Among the 15 patients, the effects of alternating IFN-α therapy were as follows: complete response (CR), 0 cases; partial response (PR), 1 case; stable disease (SD), 3 cases; progressive disease (PD), 11 cases. The response rate (CR+PR) was 7% and disease control rate (CR+PR+SD) was 27%. No severe side effects were observed in any of these cases. The PR case is still in PR 21 months after alternating IFN-α therapy. Among the three SD cases, one has continued SD for 14 months and the other for 12 months. Alternating IFN-α therapy for mRCC can be attempted even if other cytokines are not effective.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Cancer Therapy and Urology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa, Ishikawa. yskadono@yahoo.co.jp
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kadono
authors.forename: Sotaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miwa
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shima
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Konaka
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mizokami
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yotsuyanagi
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: Yasukazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takase
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugata
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimamura
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Namiki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D015850:Interleukin-6; D002097:C-Reactive Protein