Malignant pleural effusion is a common complication of cancer. Intrapleural beta interferon has been recently tested, and responses were obtained in about 1/3 of the patients without considerable side effects. We treated 22 patients with recurrent symptomatic malignant pleural effusions with intrapleural beta interferon at increasing doses (5–15 million units) for a maximum of three courses and obtained only two responses. In our opinion, this schedule cannot be recommended for routine use.
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4.
RaethU., SchmidH., HofmannJ., WiedenmannJ., KempeniJ., SchlickE., KaufmannM.: Intraperitoneal (i.p.) application of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor (rHnTNF) as an effective palliative treatment of malignant ascites from ovarian cancer and gastroenteropancreatic carcinomas.Proc. Am. Soc. Clin. Oncol., 8: 181, 1989.
5.
RossoR., RimoldiR., SalvatiF., De PalmaM., CinquegranaA., NicolòG., ArdizzoniA., FuscoU., CapaccioA., CentofantiR., NeriM., CrucianiA.R., MaistoL.: Intrapleural natural beta interferon in the treatment of malignant pleural effusions.Oncology, 45: 253–256, 1988.
