de Wit R, Danner S A, Bakker P J, Lange J M, Eeftinck Schattenkerk J K, Veenhof C H
Division of Medical Oncology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
J Intern Med. 1991 Jan;229(1):35-40. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2796.1991.tb00303.x.
The effectiveness of addition of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) to zidovudine in patients with AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma was assessed in a non-randomized, phase II clinical trial. Twenty-one patients were treated with oral zidovudine (600 mg daily) and IFN-alpha was increased to 18 MU daily for another 4 weeks. Only one of the 20 evaluable patients achieved a partial response at 8 weeks, that lasted for 3 months. Despite IFN-alpha dose escalation in six patients, no further responses were seen. While myelotoxicity was mild, fatigue was the dose-limiting side-effect that prevented dose escalation in seven eligible patients. The combined treatment did not result in a decrease in HIV-Ag. In summary, our results indicate that the addition of IFN-alpha to zidovudine in patients with AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma is not an efficacious treatment.
