DEFICIENCY IN INTERFERON-PRODUCTION OF PERIPHERAL-BLOOD LEUKOCYTES FROM PATIENTS WITH NON-HODGKIN LYMPHOMA

In search for a rationale for the use of interferons (IFNs) in treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), we have investigated the IFN system of 13 patients with low-grade NHL, 15 patients with high-grade NHL, and 20 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or leukemic immunocytoma (CLL/IC). Production of IFN induced by phytohemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (Con A), pokeweed mitogen (PWM), Corynebacterium parvum, Herpes simplex virus (HSV), Newcastle disease virus (NDV), and interleukin 2 (IL-2) were studied in the peripheral leukocytes from the patients and from 21 control persons by means of a whole blood technique. All three groups of patients with NHL had significantly reduced production upon stimulation by NDV (p ranged between 0.0038 and <0.0001) compared to controls. Similarly, C. parvum also induced lower titers of IFN in the leukocytes of patients with non-leukemic NHL (p = 0.0015 for low-grade NHL and p = 0.0038 for high-grade NHL). When stimulated by PHA, the IFN response of all groups of patients was within normal range. With the exception in low-grade NHL, Con A also induced normal titers of IFN in the patients with NHL. The levels of IFN induced by PWM, HSV, and IL-2 were very low and no differences between controls and patients could be found. As NDV and C. parvum induce mainly IFN-alpha and the mitogens PHA and Con A mainly IFN-gamma, our results suggest that there is a deficiency in the IFN-alpha response in the patients with NHL but normal response in IFN-gamma. This deficiency may have implications for the choice of subtypes of IFN in the treatment of NHL.