A phase II study of human rDNA alpha-2 interferon in patients with low grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Thirty-five patients with a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of low histological grade were treated with 2 X 10(6)/m2 of human rDNA alpha 2 IFN-a2 by subcutaneous injection. Treatment was continued until progressive disease was documented or one year of therapy had been given. None of the patients had to stop treatment because of toxicity and no treatment delays or suspensions of therapy were necessary as a consequence of myelosuppression. Thirty four patients were evaluable and seventeen (50%) obtained an objective response (2 CR, 15 PR) with a median duration of eleven months. Sixteen patients were untreated prior to receiving interferon but were felt to need some form of therapy rather than be suitable for a watch policy. Eleven of these patients responded (69%) with 95% confidence limits lying between 41% and 89%. No other pretreatment factors appeared to affect the likelihood of response. Single agent IFN-alpha 2 has significant activity in the low grade non-Hodgkin's lymphomata and warrants further investigation in this disease.