Immunomodulatory effect of interferon-alpha 2b on natural killer cells and T lymphocytes from patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

Incubation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) from patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, with interferon (IFN-alpha 2b) causes dose-dependent enhancement of natural killer (NK) and cytotoxic activity. Increased lytic activity was also observed against both NK-sensitive and NK-resistant target cells and T lymphocytes from such patients showed altered activity upon incubation with IFN-alpha 2b. Furthermore, intracavitary instillation of IFN-alpha 2b is associated with infiltration of the bladder wall by NK cells and T lymphocytes. Future work will be aimed at investigating the possible prognostic value of these results as related to the therapeutic effect of intracavitary instillation of IFN-alpha 2b.