Dec. 11, 2005 New research has shown that the immune-stimulating
hormone known as interleukin-12 (IL-12) can safely be
administered with interferon, another immune-system protein, as
an experimental therapy for some cancers. Normally, interferon
is used alone to stimulate the immune system to attack certain
cancers. This strategy, a form of immunotherapy, is sometimes
used to treat melanoma, advanced kidney cancer and other tumors
that respond poorly to chemotherapy or radiation therapy. But
interferon can have serious side effects that limit its use.
Surprisingly, the two drugs used in sequence caused no serious
side effects in patients. "Interferon can be quite toxic when
used alone," says principal investigator William E. Carson, III,
associate professor of surgery and associate director for
clinical research at the Ohio State University Comprehensive
Cancer Center. "We were initially concerned that the addition of
IL-12 might increase that toxicity. Instead, we found that the
two drugs can be used togethe