INTERFERON THERAPY IN DISSEMINATED RENAL-CELL CARCINOMA

Twenty patients with pulmonary metastases of renal cell carcinomas were treated in a randomized study with either leukocyte interferon in daily doses of 3 .times. 106 IU i.m. or irradiation of both lungs in a calculated mean central dose of 10 Gy [gray] in 4 wk in combination with bleomycin and vincristine. Most patients had a short time to progression of their disease. Three patients in the interferon group had complete response (CR) and partial response (PR) and 1 patient in the other group had PR. The numbers of patients in both arms of the study are too small to allow any conclusions whether beneficial effects are more frequent in one group than in the other, but there is a more favorable tendency in the interferon group.