Sanlorenzo Martina, Vujic Igor, Carnevale-Schianca Fabrizio, Quaglino Pietro, Gammaitoni Loretta, Fierro Maria Teresa, Aglietta Massimo, Sangiolo Dario
a Department of Oncology , University of Torino , Candiolo , Torino , Italy.
b Department of Medical Sciences, Section of Dermatology , University of Turin , Torino , Italy.
Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2017 Apr;17(4):475-483. doi: 10.1080/14712598.2017.1289169. Epub 2017 Feb 16.
Interferons (IFNs) play a key role in modulating anti-microbial and antitumor immune responses. In oncology, past attempts to exploit IFNs therapeutically did not fulfill expectations, and had only modest clinical results, mostly limited to adjuvant melanoma treatment. The recent successes of immunotherapy in oncology have brought new attention to the potential of immune-modulatory agents like the IFNs. Areas covered: The authors review the biological effects of IFN on melanoma and immune cells. Then, the authors summarize the clinical results of adjuvant and therapeutic IFN in melanoma, giving focus to possible prognostic factors and new on-going clinical trials. Expert opinion: IFNs offer intriguing opportunities for synergism between conventional treatments and recently introduced molecular-targeted and immunotherapy approaches. However, the full comprehension of all IFN effects and their multiple biologic links is challenging. A strong commitment toward parallel translational research is needed to facilitate the interpretation of IFN's expected and unexpected effects, guiding the rational design of informative clinical studies.
干扰素（IFNs）在调节抗微生物和抗肿瘤免疫反应中起关键作用。在肿瘤学领域，过去利用干扰素进行治疗的尝试未达预期，临床效果有限，主要局限于辅助性黑色素瘤治疗。肿瘤免疫疗法近期取得的成功使人们重新关注干扰素等免疫调节药物的潜力。涵盖领域：作者回顾了干扰素对黑色素瘤和免疫细胞的生物学作用。然后，作者总结了辅助性和治疗性干扰素在黑色素瘤治疗中的临床结果，重点关注可能的预后因素和正在进行的新临床试验。专家观点：干扰素为传统治疗与近期引入的分子靶向治疗和免疫疗法之间的协同作用提供了有趣的机会。然而，全面理解干扰素的所有作用及其多种生物学联系具有挑战性。需要大力开展平行转化研究，以促进对干扰素预期和意外作用的解读，指导开展信息丰富的临床研究的合理设计。
