title: Use of enhanced interleukin-2 formulations for improved immunotherapy against cancer.
abstract: The use of interleukin-2 (IL-2) for the stimulation of an effector immune response against metastatic cancer dates back to the early 1980s. Administration of unmodified IL-2, either alone or together with antigen-specific approaches, has resulted in remarkably long-term survival of some patients suffering from metastatic melanoma. However, such treatment is usually hampered by the appearance of toxic adverse effects, which has motivated the engineering of modified IL-2 formulations showing reduced toxicity while being more potent at stimulating anti-tumor effector immune cells. In this review we summarize and discuss the features and biological relevance of several enhanced IL-2 formulations, compare these to IL-15-based therapeutics, and try to foreshadow their potential in immunological research and immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University Hospital Zurich, Gloriastrasse 30, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Rodney A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Rosalia
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University Hospital Zurich, Gloriastrasse 30, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Arenas-Ramirez
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Rue de la Géraudière, BP 71627 Cedex 03, 44316 Nantes, France.
authors.forename: Grégory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bouchaud
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University Hospital Zurich, Gloriastrasse 30, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Miro E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Raeber
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University Hospital Zurich, Gloriastrasse 30, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: onur.boyman@uzh.ch.
authors.forename: Onur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Boyman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2