A comparison of the antiproliferative properties of recombinant human IFN-alpha 2 and IFN-omega in human bone marrow culture.

We compared the antiproliferative effects in vitro of recombinant preparations of interferon-alpha 2c (IFN-alpha 2) and IFN-omega on the formation of colonies from bone marrow progenitor cells. Both IFNs led to statistically indistinguishable dose-dependent inhibitory effects when tested on bone marrow cells derived from 8 normal donors or from 7 patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). With both IFNs, the cells from CML patients appeared slightly but not significantly more sensitive to inhibition than the cells from normal donors. These results suggest that under some circumstances, IFN-omega may prove an effective treatment for CML, for example, in those becoming resistant to IFN-alpha 2 because of the formation of neutralizing antibodies.