Immune reactive proteins in renal cell carcinoma patients treated by IFN alpha alone or in combination with vinblastine.

Immunoreactive proteins--serum immunoglobulins and immune complexes were evaluated in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients. The analyses were done after radical nephrectomy before, at the end, and six months after the therapy, with IFN alpha alone (in patients in Stage II) or IFN alpha in the combination with vinblastine (in patients in Stage III and IV of the disease). Data obtained before immuno- or immunochemotherapy show significant increase in IgG and IgA concentrations in RCC patients in all stages of the disease investigated--in comparison to controls, while circulating immune complexes were significantly elevated only in patients in the advanced Stages of the disease (III and IV). The unchanged IgM level was found in all untreated RCC patients regarding the controls. Immuno- or immunochemotherapy did not affect the immunoreactive proteins (Ig and CIC) in the investigated patients, without respect to their clinical response to the applied therapy.