El. Hanninen et al., LIMITED EFFICACY OF INTERFERON-ALPHA AND VINBLASTINE AS 2ND LINE BIOCHEMOTHERAPY REGIMEN IN PATIENTS WITH PROGRESSIVE METASTATIC RENAL-CELLCARCINOMA, Cancer biotherapy, 8(4), 1993, pp. 301-306
We report on thirty-four patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma
who were treated with a combination of subcutaneous recombinant inter
feron-alpha and intravenous vinblastine upon progression after previou
s antineoplastic therapy. Pretreatment included chemotherapy (n=3), ho
rmonal therapy (n=6) and immunotherapy (interleukin-2/interferon-alpha
, n=25). In this study, treatment courses consisted of subcutaneous do
ses thrice weekly of recombinant interferon-alpha at 6 million U/m2 (2
0 patients, group 2), respectively. Treatment was given over 8 consecu
tive weeks. Additionally, in all patients, vinblastine was administere
d intravenously at a dose of 6 mg/m2 in weeks 2, 5 and 8. Of 14 patien
ts treated in group 1, one had a partial response for 6 months (overal
l response rate 714%; 95% confidence interval, 0.18-33.87%), and four
had disease stabilization (median duration, 5.0 months). Of 20 patient
s treated in group 2, there was one patient who achieved a complete re
sponse (response duration, 34+ months); in addition, two patients had
a partial response (median response duration, 10.5+ months; overall re
sponse rate, 15%; 95% confidence interval 3.21-37.89%), and 13 patient
s exhibited disease stabilization (median duration 5.9+ months). Respo
nse rates showed no significant differences when comparing treatment r
esults in patients in group 1 vs group 2. In contrast, significantly l
ess patients treated in group 2 had progressive disease (p = 0.024), a
s compared to patients in group 1. This treatment combination was over
all well tolerated with low to moderate systemic toxicity. In addition
, there were no significant differences in frequency or intensity of t
herapy-related systemic toxicities when comparing patients in group 1
and group 2, respectively. We conclude that the combination of subcuta
neous recombinant interferon-a and intravenous vinblastine has limited
efficacy as second line biochemotherapy in pretreated progressive met
astatic renal cell cancer patients.