At present, no sufficient therapy for advanced renal cell carcinoma is available.
Interferon (IFN) therapy has been used to treat renal cell carcinoma, but the efficacy of it is low, with response rate being only about 20%.
We experienced two patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma had marked response to IFN-α therapy in proximity effect.
Using monoclonal anti-bodies of each subset of lymphocytes, the peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) in these patients were evaluated by two color flow-cytometry. And these results and clinical course were assesed.
The lymphocyte subpopulatlon that change of clinical course is been similar to in these patients were Tc (CD11b-CD8+), T_SI (leu8+CD4+), _AT_S/C (CD8+HLA-DR+) and _AT_H/SI (CD4+HLA-DR+).
And the pretherapeutic immunological status of these patients was characterized by significantly increased CD4+/CD8+ and T_H/T_S ratio.
In conclusion, the clinical response of advanced renal cell carcinoma to IFN therapy might be found if CD4+/CD8+ and T_H/T_S ratio are increased at pretherapeutic immunological status.
In addition, assessement of T_SI, T_C, and _AT_S/C, as immune parameters for monitoring the actual immune status of patient is found to be necessary part of immunotherapy.