Department of Urology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
J Interferon Cytokine Res. 2010 Jan;30(1):43-8. doi: 10.1089/jir.2009.0014.
Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) has extremely broad effects on the immune system, and the influence of IFN-alpha on regulatory T (Treg) cells is not fully known. In this report, Treg cells were analyzed in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following IFN-alpha monotherapy or treatment with IFN-alpha and interleukin (IL)-2. CD4(+) and FoxP3(+) Treg cells were significantly decreased for 2 weeks after the initiation of IFN-alpha monotherapy, but recovered later as treatment proceeded. Patients treated with both IFN-alpha and IL-2 increased their Treg cell levels during the first 2 weeks after initiation of treatment. Patients who derived complete response (CR), partial response (PR), or stable disease (SD) from IFN-alpha monotherapy had lower Treg cell levels before treatment than did patients whose disease progressed. Low Treg cell levels before treatment may therefore be advantageous to subsequent immunotherapy with IFN-alpha, and predictive for treatment results in RCC patients.
干扰素-α（IFN-α）对免疫系统具有极其广泛的影响，而 IFN-α 对调节性 T（Treg）细胞的影响尚不完全清楚。在本报告中，分析了接受 IFN-α单药治疗或 IFN-α联合白细胞介素（IL）-2 治疗的转移性肾细胞癌（RCC）患者的 Treg 细胞。IFN-α 单药治疗开始后 2 周内，CD4(+)和 FoxP3(+) Treg 细胞明显减少，但随着治疗的进行，后来恢复了。接受 IFN-α和 IL-2 联合治疗的患者在治疗开始后 2 周内增加了 Treg 细胞水平。与疾病进展的患者相比，从 IFN-α 单药治疗中获得完全缓解（CR）、部分缓解（PR）或稳定疾病（SD）的患者在治疗前 Treg 细胞水平较低。因此，治疗前 Treg 细胞水平较低可能有利于随后的 IFN-α免疫治疗，并对 RCC 患者的治疗结果具有预测价值。
