Three schedules of recombinant human interleukin-2 in the treatment of malignancy: side effects and immunologic effects in relation to serum level.

Recombinant human interleukin-2 (rIL-2) was administered to 34 patients with advanced malignancy. Three schedules of rIL-2 administration employed were as follows: (A) 2-hr iv infusion of 6.7 X 10(5) U/m2/day (A1, 6 cases) or 2.2 X 10(6) U/m2/day (A2, 8 cases) for five consecutive days; (B) 24-hr continuous iv infusion of 3.3 X 10(5) U/m2/day (B1, 3 cases), 6.7 X 10(5) U/m2/day (B2, 7 cases) or 1.1 X 10(6) U/m2/day (B3, 5 cases) for 28 consecutive days; and (C) 24-hr continuous iv infusion of 6.7 X 10(5) U/m2/day (C, 5 cases) for 5 consecutive days per week for four weeks. The common side effects were fever (79%), eosinophilia (61%), malaise (56%), erythema or rash (50%), chills (38%) and nausea or vomiting (35%), with the dose-limiting toxicities being hypotension in group A, and renal dysfunction with fluid retention in groups B and C. In the case of 2-hr iv infusion, rIL-2 was rapidly cleared from the plasma, with a half life of about 30 min, while in the case of 24-hr continuous infusion, more than 1 U/ml serum IL-2 activity was maintained for 14 days in group B3. Natural killer (NK) and lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) activities were augmented by rIL-2 administration in patients of groups A, B3 and C. In eight patients of group B, NK and LAK activities transiently decreased after rIL-2 administration, and recovered by day 3. The percentage of IL-2 receptor and Leu HLA-DR positive cells reached the peak level on day 7 in group B. In patients of group C, the percentage of Leu HLA-DR positive cells as well as NK and LAK activities increased upon rIL-2 administration and decreased during an intermission of two days. However, the percentage of rIL-2 receptor positive cells increased during the intermission of rIL-2. The most effective schedule of rIL-2 administration was considered to be the schedule of group C on the basis of this study.