A Belgian registry of interleukin-2 administration for treatment of metastatic renal cell cancer and confrontation with literature data

Current status and challenges of cytokine pharmacology

The major concern of pharmacology about cytokines has originated from plentiful data showing association between gross changes in their production and pathophysiological processes. Despite the enigmatic role of cytokines in diseases, a number of them have become a subject of cytokine and anti-cytokine immunotherapies. Production of cytokines can be influenced by many endogenous and exogenous stimuli including drugs. Cells of the immune system, such as macrophages and lymphocytes, are richly endowed with receptors for the mediators of physiological functions, such as biogenic amines, adenosine, prostanoids, steroids, etc. Drugs, agonists or antagonists of these receptors can directly or indirectly up- and down-regulate secretion of cytokines and expression of cytokine receptors. Vice versa, cytokines interfere with drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics through the interactions with cytochrome P450 and multiple drug resistance proteins. The aim of the review is to encourage more intensive studies in these fields of cytokine pharmacology. It also outlines major areas of searching promising candidates for immunotherapeutic interventions.

VEGF neutralizing antibody increases the therapeutic efficacy of vinorelbine for renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is currently one of the most treatment-resistant malignancies and affects approximately three in 10,000 people. The impact of this disease produces about 31,000 new cases in the United States per year; and 12,000 people in the United States alone die from RCC annually. Although several treatment strategies have been investigated for RCC, this cancer continues to be a therapeutic challenge. For this reason, the aim of our study is to develop a more effective combinational therapy to treat advanced RCC. We examined the effect of vinorelbine on the signalling pathways of two human renal cancer cell lines (A498 and 786-O) and also examined the in vivo effect of vinorelbine treatment alone and vinorelbine in combination with the anti-VEGF antibody 2C3 on A498 and 786-O tumour growth in nude mice. Tumour angiogenesis was measured by vWF staining, and apoptosis was determined by the TUNEL assay. We observed a significant tumour growth inhibition when using a combinational therapy of anti-VEGF antibody 2C3 and vinorelbine in both A498 and 786-O tumour-bearing mice. The results suggest a breakthrough treatment for advanced RCC.