Modulation of Cell-Mediated Immune Response by Recombinant Alpha-2-A Interferon in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Preliminary Results

The interferons are a group of glycoproteins synthesized by cells in response to viral infections, immune stimulation and a variety of chemical inducers 1 . Although the biological activity of interferons that led to their discovery was their ability to protect cells from infection with DNA and RNA viruses 2 , it is now clear that interferons may exert both antiproliferative and immunomodulatory activities. Indeed, interferons have been shown to inhibit in vitro tumor cells colony formation 3 and to enhance expression of tumor cell surface antigens 4 . The latter may be associated to an increase of both humoral and cell-mediated immune processes 1 ; thus determining an overall improvement of the host response against tumors. Therefore, it seems that interferons may play a potential role in human cancer treatment.