M. Lee et al., INTERLEUKIN-2 IN NEOADJUVANT THERAPY POTENTIATES INHIBITORY ACTIVITY OF 5-FLUOROURACIL AND INTERFERON IN EXPERIMENTAL LIVER METASTASES, Anti-cancer drugs, 5(2), 1994, pp. 239-243
Our previous studies showed that interferon (IFN) used in combination
with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was effective in inhibiting colorectal tumo
r cell metastases to the liver in nude mice. Furthermore, IFN was also
effective in neoadjuvant therapy and allowed the combination treatmen
t (5-FU+IFN) to be delayed for 2-3 weeks following i.s. injections of
tumor cells. In this study, we have examined the potential of interleu
kin-2 (IL-2) to substitute for IFN in neoadjuvant therapy. IL-2 was fo
und to be equally effective, if not superior, to IFN as a neoadjuvant
in inhibiting river and lung metastases with 5-FU+IFN. Moreover, the e
ffect of IL-2 was demonstrable even after 1 week, whereas IFN did not
have an effect until 2 weeks of neoadjuvant dosing. These studies demo
nstrate IL-2 to be more effective than IFN as an immunomodulatory agen
t in combination with 5-FU+IFN for the inhibition of liver metastases
in nude mice.