Effects of native human leukocyte interferon-alpha and recombinant human interferon-alpha on P3-X63-Ag8.653 mouse myeloma cell growth.

Multiple myeloma (MM) remains largely incurable, although traditional chemotherapy and new compounds have been shown to produce a clinical response. Clinical studies were performed to determine the effectiveness of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) in MM, which has also recently been shown to function as a survival factor for MM cells. The effects of different doses of native human leukocyte interferon-alpha (nhIFN-alpha), recombinant human interferon-alpha2a (rhIFN-alpha2a) and recombinant human interferon-alpha2b (rhIFN-alpha2b) on in vitro P3-X63-Ag8.653 mouse myeloma cell growth were compared. A statistically significant dose-dependent reduction in cell viability following cell culture with nhIFN-alpha was observed. On the other hand, a statistically significant increase in cell viability was observed following cell culture with rhIFN-alpha2a and rhIFN-alpha2b, but only in relation to the control group and seemingly without dose dependency. These results highlight the importance of the type of human IFN-alpha used in the treatment and study of MM, and suggest that nhIFN-alpha may have a role in future personalized therapy approaches.