ACTIVITY OF A SHORT-COURSE OF INTERFERON-ALPHA FOR METASTATIC RENAL-CELL CARCINOMA - A PHASE-2 STUDY

Twelve patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma were entered into a phase-2 study of an 8-week course of interferon (INF) therapy. INF was given subcutaneously at a dose of 3 mu, three times per week. The patients were WHO performance status 0-2. A complete response was obta ined in two patients (17% response rate), which has been maintained at 23 and 45 months. One of these patients presented with cranial and lu ng metastases and received cranial irradiation and decradron concurren t with INF. The toxicity of INF has been low. The optimal duration of INF therapy warrants further evaluation.