Meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of interferon-alpha in patients with follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

The authors wanted to determine whether adding interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) to chemotherapy regimens, in either induction or maintenance settings, pro vides additional survival benefits in follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (Nn L). A meta-analysis was performed based on published data from randomized c ontrolled clinical trials involving nine separate study populations. Patien ts receiving IFN-alpha (in either induction or maintenance therapy) had sig nificantly increased 5-year and progression-free survival rates at 3 and 5 years compared with concurrent controls. The advantages of IFN-alpha therap y were most marked in studies using anrhracycline-containing induction chem otherapy; in these studies, patients who received IFN-alpha had approximate ly 20% increased progression-free survival rates compared with controls and a lesser survival advantage. The available literature did not allow a dete rmination of the relative benefit of IFN-alpha in induction or maintenance treatments for NHL or a determination of the optimum duration of IFN-alpha treatment. Although questions remain about its optimal use, IFN-alpha appea rs to prolong survival time in patients with follicular NHL.