Bezwoda W R, Seymour L, Dansey R
Department of Medicine Haematology/Oncology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Cancer. 1989 Sep 1;64(5):1029-33. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19890901)64:5<1029::aid-cncr2820640511>3.0.co;2-#.
Thirteen patients with malignant ascites due to recurrent ovarian cancer were treated with intraperitoneal interferon 2b (5 mu/m2 escalating to 15 mu/m2, administered twice weekly by indwelling intraperitoneal catheter). The study population included eight patients with ascites only and five patients with ascites plus tumor masses greater than 2 cm in diameter. Five of 13 responded to treatment. All the responses were seen in patients with ascites only. Although tumor mass was an important determinant of response there was also a correlation between clinical response and suppression of colony growth on soft agar after in vitro exposure of tumor cells to interferon-alpha (IFN alpha). The intraperitoneal use of IFN alpha should be explored further in tumors with a predominant intraperitoneal location and microimplantation growth pattern.
