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. 1992 Sep;34(5):337–342. doi: 10.1007/BF01741555

Continuous intravenous infusion of high-dose recombinant interleukin-2 for acute myeloid leukaemia — a phase II study

S H Lim 1,✉, A C Newland 3, S Kelsey 3, A Bell 4, E Offerman 5, C Rist 6, D Gozzard 7, D Bareford 8, M P Smith 1, A H Goldstone 1
PMCID: PMC11038385  PMID: 1540980

Abstract

A group of 13 patients with acute myeloid leukaemia of differing disease status were treated with continuous intravenous infusion of high-dose recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2). There was up-regulation of the cellular cytotoxic functions in all these patients following the rIL-2 therapy, with increase in the natural killer (NK) activity, lectin-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, induction of cytotoxicity-linked cytoplasmic serine esterase and lymphocyte activation. However, the clinical response to rIL-2 in these patients was disappointing, especially in patients treated in frank relapse. Although 1 patient treated in early second relapse achieved a third complete remission, the duration of the remission was brief and lasted only 6 months. Adverse reactions among these patients were common. Whether or not lymphokine-activated killer cells are needed to improve the response rate over rIL-2 alone in these patients deserves further investigation.

Key words: Acute myeloid leukaemia, Recombinant interleukin-2

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