Hill A D, Redmond H P, Croke D T, Grace P A, Bouchier-Hayes D
Department of Surgery, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Br J Surg. 1992 Oct;79(10):990-7. doi: 10.1002/bjs.1800791005.
Cytokines are low molecular weight proteins released by cells of the immune system that have therapeutic potential in cancer. They include the interleukins, the interferons, tumour necrosis factor and the colony-stimulating factors. Cytokines are capable of producing significant and sustained responses against a number of tumours. Clinically, the highest response rates to cytokine immunotherapy have been seen in melanoma and renal cell cancer. Current efforts aim to reduce treatment-related toxicity while maintaining the efficacy of cytokines. The therapeutic potential of these agents may be increased with genetic manipulation by introducing genes encoding cytokines into tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes and certain tumour cells. However, immunotherapy remains time consuming and expensive, and further developments are necessary before it can have a definitive role in tumour management.
细胞因子是由免疫系统细胞释放的低分子量蛋白质，在癌症治疗方面具有潜力。它们包括白细胞介素、干扰素、肿瘤坏死因子和集落刺激因子。细胞因子能够对多种肿瘤产生显著且持续的反应。临床上，在黑色素瘤和肾细胞癌中，细胞因子免疫疗法的缓解率最高。目前的研究致力于在维持细胞因子疗效的同时降低治疗相关毒性。通过基因操作，将编码细胞因子的基因导入肿瘤浸润淋巴细胞和某些肿瘤细胞中，可能会增强这些药物的治疗潜力。然而，免疫疗法仍然耗时且昂贵，在其能够在肿瘤治疗中发挥决定性作用之前，还需要进一步发展。
