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Prognostic value of the immunomonitoring of patients with renal cell carcinoma under therapy with IL-2/IFN-α-2 in combination with 5-FU

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Abstract

After tumor nephrectomy, patients suffering from metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) received interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon (IFN)-α-2b and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in one to three treatment cycles over 8 weeks Using flow cytometry, we investigated the immunophenotype of peripheral blood lymphocytes from 22 patients during therapy. In all patients, we found an increase in the absolute number of T lymphocytes, especially of the CD4 type, and in the number of HLA-DR+, CD25+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. The mean number of B cells did not increase during therapy. The numbers of CD4+, CD8+ and CD25+ T cells correlated significantly with the clinical response. In addition, we found that the pretherapeutic number of T lymphocytes and B cells but not of NK cells was significantly higher in patients with a therapy-induced clinical response. In conclusion, we describe the predictive value of the number of lymphocytes from peripheral blood for the efficiency of IL-2/IFN-α-2b therapy in combination with 5-FU in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, Martin Luther University, Magdeburger Strasse 16, D-06097, Halle, Germany

    B. Göhring, H. Heynemann & J. Schabel

  2. Institute of Medical Immunology, Martin Luther University, Strasse der OdF 6, D-06097, Halle, Germany

    D. Riemann & J. Langner

  3. Department of Urology, Anhaltische Diakonissenanstalt Dessau, Gropiusallee 3, D-06815, Dessau, Germany

    U. Rebmann

Authors
  1. B. Göhring
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  2. D. Riemann
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  4. H. Heynemann
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  5. J. Schabel
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  6. J. Langner
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Göhring, B., Riemann, D., Rebmann, U. et al. Prognostic value of the immunomonitoring of patients with renal cell carcinoma under therapy with IL-2/IFN-α-2 in combination with 5-FU. Urol. Res. 24, 297–303 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00304780

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00304780

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