CYTOKINE INDUCTION BY 41.8-DEGREES-C WHOLE-BODY HYPERTHERMIA

The potential for 41.8 degrees C whole body hyperthermia (WBH) to enha nce ionizing irradiation and cytotoxic chemotherapy without a commensu rate increase in normal tissue toxicity is currently receiving renewed clinical interest. Additionally, WBH may have other biological sequel a which may be clinically exploited. In this paper, data are summarize d revealing the ability of WBH to induce elevated plasma levels of gra nulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 b eta), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-10 (IL-1 0), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) within hours of WBH. D ata regarding TNF-alpha shows induction in only a proportion of patien ts. No induction of C-reactive protein (CRP) or the following cytokine s was observed: granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-C SF), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin-la (IL-1 alpha), interl eukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-7 (IL-7), interleuki n-11 (IL-11), interleukin-12 (IL-12), macrophage-colony stimulating fa ctor (M-CSF), and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1 alpha ). Data regarding interleukin-3 (IL-3) and transforming growth factor- beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) were variable and inconclusive. The implications o f these results to past and future clinical trials are discussed.