Long-term pegylated interferon-α and its potential in the treatment of melanoma

Reinhard Dummer, Joanna ManganaDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital, Zürich, SwitzerlandAbstract: Conventional interferons including interferon-α (IFN-α) are cytokines used for years in the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. T...

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Autores principales: Reinhard Dummer, Joanna Mangana
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Publicado: Dove Medical Press 2009
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:7cd304e16e014f88b5da00e22f5fc43e2021-12-02T04:38:02ZLong-term pegylated interferon-α and its potential in the treatment of melanoma1177-54751177-5491https://doaj.org/article/7cd304e16e014f88b5da00e22f5fc43e2009-04-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.dovepress.com/long-term-pegylated-interferon-alpha-and-its-potential-in-the-treatmen-a3051https://doaj.org/toc/1177-5475https://doaj.org/toc/1177-5491Reinhard Dummer, Joanna ManganaDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital, Zürich, SwitzerlandAbstract: Conventional interferons including interferon-α (IFN-α) are cytokines used for years in the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Their half-life is short. Pegylated forms of IFN-α present an improved pharmacokinetic profile that rendered them the preferred IFNs in hepatitis therapy. In the last decade, pegylated interferons (PegIFNs) have been investigated in melanoma patients. We review the scientific published literature on biology, pharmacokinetics, side effects and clinical applications of PegIFN-α in the treatment of stage III and IV melanoma. In the adjuvant setting, PegIFNα-2b has significant prolonged distant metastases free survival in patients with microscopic nodal involvement (stage TxN1aM0) and therefore is a promising treatment option in this patient population. In the palliative setting, monotherapy with PegIFNα-2α can induce complete remissions in a minority of stage IV melanoma patients. The combination of monochemotherapy is feasible and may result in lasting complete remissions. Ongoing research must focus on the identification of patients who mostly benefit, so that unnecessary toxicity would be avoided. Combining PegIFNs and chemotherapy or targeted agents deserves further exploration.Keywords: interferons, pegylated interferon-α, melanoma Reinhard DummerJoanna ManganaDove Medical PressarticleMedicine (General)R5-920ENBiologics: Targets & Therapy, Vol 2009, Iss default, Pp 169-182 (2009)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine (General)
R5-920
spellingShingle Medicine (General)
R5-920
Reinhard Dummer
Joanna Mangana
Long-term pegylated interferon-α and its potential in the treatment of melanoma
description Reinhard Dummer, Joanna ManganaDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital, Zürich, SwitzerlandAbstract: Conventional interferons including interferon-α (IFN-α) are cytokines used for years in the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Their half-life is short. Pegylated forms of IFN-α present an improved pharmacokinetic profile that rendered them the preferred IFNs in hepatitis therapy. In the last decade, pegylated interferons (PegIFNs) have been investigated in melanoma patients. We review the scientific published literature on biology, pharmacokinetics, side effects and clinical applications of PegIFN-α in the treatment of stage III and IV melanoma. In the adjuvant setting, PegIFNα-2b has significant prolonged distant metastases free survival in patients with microscopic nodal involvement (stage TxN1aM0) and therefore is a promising treatment option in this patient population. In the palliative setting, monotherapy with PegIFNα-2α can induce complete remissions in a minority of stage IV melanoma patients. The combination of monochemotherapy is feasible and may result in lasting complete remissions. Ongoing research must focus on the identification of patients who mostly benefit, so that unnecessary toxicity would be avoided. Combining PegIFNs and chemotherapy or targeted agents deserves further exploration.Keywords: interferons, pegylated interferon-α, melanoma
format article
author Reinhard Dummer
Joanna Mangana
author_facet Reinhard Dummer
Joanna Mangana
author_sort Reinhard Dummer
title Long-term pegylated interferon-α and its potential in the treatment of melanoma
title_short Long-term pegylated interferon-α and its potential in the treatment of melanoma
title_full Long-term pegylated interferon-α and its potential in the treatment of melanoma
title_fullStr Long-term pegylated interferon-α and its potential in the treatment of melanoma
title_full_unstemmed Long-term pegylated interferon-α and its potential in the treatment of melanoma
title_sort long-term pegylated interferon-α and its potential in the treatment of melanoma
publisher Dove Medical Press
publishDate 2009
url https://doaj.org/article/7cd304e16e014f88b5da00e22f5fc43e
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