Table 1.
Pre-clinical studies of IFNs in cancer treatment
| Cancer type | Treatment information | Biological roles | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melanoma | IFN-α, 5-Aza-2ʹ-deoxycitidine and DNA vaccine | Improve vaccine efficacy and correlate with changes in chemokine gene expression and CD8+ TIL infiltration. Reduce tumor burden and increase median survival. | 57 |
| Melanoma | PEG-IFN-α | Reduce tumor weight. Inhibit proliferation but promote apoptosis of tumor cells. | 58 |
| Melanoma | IFN-α and dacarbazine | Reduce tumor hypoxia, downregulate G-protein signaling-5 (RGS5) expression, and increase mature pericyte coverage. Inhibit tumor growth by normalizing tumor vasculature. | 59 |
| Melanoma | IFN-α-2b and thalidomide | Decrease mean vessel count of tumors and suppress angiogenesis. | 60 |
| Colorectal cancer | IFN-α | Suppress CCL17 expression in tumors and thus decrease the trafficking of Treg. | 61 |
| Colorectal cancer | Dendritic cell-based immunotherapy and IFN-α | Suppress outgrowth of tumors and induce potent antitumor cellular immune responses. | 62 |
| Renal cell carcinoma | IFN-α-incorporated Hyaluronic acid-tyramine hydrogel and sorafenib | Inhibit proliferation of tumors by inducing apoptosis and suppress angiogenesis. | 63 |
| Renal cell carcinoma | PEG-IFN-α2b and 5-FU | Augment IFN-induced anti-proliferative effects with the induction of cell apoptosis. | 64 |
| Mesothelioma | IFN-α or combination with β-carotene or alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) | Stimulate effects on immune cells by inhibiting TGF-β generation. | 65 |
| Pancreatic cancer | IFN-α and doxorubicin | Inhibit tumor cells growth in vivo and activate cytotoxicity of NK cells and CTLs, by increasing the expression of MHC I and NKG2D ligands on tumor cells. | 66 |
| Prostate cancer | PEG-IFN-α and docetaxel | Inhibit neoplastic angiogenesis by inducing a decrease in the local production of proangiogenic molecules by tumor cells and increasing apoptosis of tumor associated endothelial cells. | 67 |
| Colon cancer | IFN-β | Repress the growth of colon cancer in the peritoneal cavity and liver. | 68 |
| Melanoma | IFN-β | Activate neutrophils and alter tumor associated neutrophils (TAN) polarization toward anti-tumor N1 in mice and patients. | 69 |
| Glioblastoma | IFN-β and temozolomide | Promote tumor cell death, eliminate invasive tumors, activate microglia surrounding the tumors, and increase long-term survival. | 70 |
| Prostate cancer | IFN-β | Increase the natural killer cell activity and reduce tumor volume. | 71 |
| Neuroblastoma | IFN-β | Delay tumor growth, stabilize vessel, enhance antitumor efficacy by improving intratumoral delivery of systemically administered topotecan (TPT). |
72 73 |
| Lymphoma | IFN-α/β | Increase the survival time of ESb-immunized mice rechallenged with ESb cells and inhibit the development of lymphoma cell metastases. | 74 |
| Melanoma | Salmonella typhimurium expressing recombinant IFN-γ | Inhibit tumor growth and prolong the survival of C57BL/6 mice bearing B16F10 melanoma. | 75 |
| Cervical cancer | IFN-γ | Induce the resolution of cervical intraepithelial lesions and high-risk HPV DNA clearance in vivo. | 76 |
| Breast cancer | IFN-γ-endostatin-based gene-radiotherapy | Activate IFN-γ-stimulated CTL and NK cells, and enhance the endostatin-induced anti-angiogenic activity. | 77 |
| Ovarian cancer | IL-4-Pseudomonas exotoxin and IFN-α and IFN-γ | Increase overall survival of mice with human ovarian cancer xenograft and increase ovarian cancer cell death in vitro and in vivo. | 78 |
| Glioblastoma | hTERT-siRNA and IFN-γ | Inhibit angiogenesis and tumor progression through the downregulation of molecules involved in these processes. | 79 |
| Lung cancer | Hyperthermia and IFN-γ | Suppress the basal, the heat shock-induced and the cisplatin-induced expression of Hsp27 in tumor cells and suppress tumor growth in vivo. | 80 |
| Oral squamous carcinoma | Hyperthermia and IFN-γ | Suppress the basal, the heat shock-induced and the cisplatin-induced expression of Hsp27 in tumor cells and suppress tumor growth in vivo. | 80 |
| Pancreatic cancer | Anti-PD1 therapy combined with IFN-γ | Suppress tumor-derived CXCL8 and inhibit the tumor trafficking of CXCR2+ CD68+ macrophages by blocking the CXCL8-CXCR2 axis to enhance anti-PD1 efficacy. | 17 |
| Colon cancer | IFN-γ and ATG5-targeted inhibition | Decrease tumor incidence rate and enhance the antitumor efficacy. | 81 |
| Colon adenocarcinoma | GM-CSF and IFN-γ | Exhibit tumor formation delay, induce a systemic immune response and indicate a dual role for T and NK cells in mediating the anti-tumor activity. | 82 |
| Hepatocellular carcinoma | IFN-α and PEG-IFN-λ1 | Obtain highest antitumor efficacy at the tumor site that was associated with infiltration of NK cells into TME. Suppress tumor growth, inhibit HBsAg production and induce tumor cell apoptosis. |
83 84 85 |
| Melanoma | IFN-λ | Induce both tumor apoptosis and NK cell-mediated immunological tumor destruction through innate immune responses. | 86 |
| Melanoma | Ad-IFN-λ2 orAd-IFN-λ1 | Increase the number of infiltrating CD8+ T cells into the tumors. | 87 |
| Colon cancer | IFN-λ | Inhibit metastatic tumor formation through innate immune responses. | 86 |
| Colon adenocarcinoma | rhIFN-λ1 | Inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells in a dose-dependent manner, activate the STATs and induce apoptosis of tumor cells. | 88 |
| Lung adenocarcinoma | Ad-mIFN-λ2 | Inhibit tumor cell growth through inducing apoptosis of tumor cell and regulating cell immune response. | 89 |
| Lung cancer | IFN-λ2 | Suppress tumor cell growth and induce cell death. | 90 |