TUMOR VACCINATION WITH AND WITHOUT ADJUVA NT INTERLEUKIN-2 IN RENAL-CELL CARCINOMA - A CLINICAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE ACTIVE SPECIFIC IMMUNIZATION

Interleukin 2 (IL2) production is known to bypass T-helper-cell functi on in the generation of an antitumour response, The present analysis w as designed to assess the effects of application of renal cancer vacci ne with and without IL2 on delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin re sponses to the vaccine itself and tumour cell challenge. The renal can cer vaccine consisted of Newcastle disease virus (NDV)-infected autolo gous irradiated tumour cells and topical application of low-dose rIL 2 (75000 Cetus units), As a result, the coadministration of a supple me nt of rIL2 proved to be important for augmentation of DTH responsivene ss to tumour cell challenge. Patients with aneuploid tumours vaccinate d without rIL2 developed an anergy to the vaccine throughout vaccinati on, This effect could be reversed by the topical coapplication of this cytokine. While the treatment of renal cancer patients with IL2-based immunotherapy regimens appears to be effective in advanced renal cell carcinoma the IL2-supplemented vaccines should be tested to assess th eir benefit in the situation of ''minimal disease'' after surgery espe cially in high-risk patients with aneuploid tumours.