Multiple myeloma (MM) remains largely incurable, although traditional chemotherapy and new compounds have been shown to produce a clinical response. Clinical studies were performed to determine the effectiveness of interferon-α (IFN-α) in MM, which has also recently been shown to function as a survival factor for MM cells. The effects of different doses of native human leukocyte interferon-α (nhIFN-α), recombinant human interferon-α2a (rhIFN-α2a) and recombinant human interferon-α2b (rhIFN-α2b) on in vitro P3-X63-Ag8.653 mouse myeloma cell growth were compared. A statistically significant dose-dependent reduction in cell viability following cell culture with nhIFN-αwas observed. On the other hand, a statistically significant increase in cell viability was observed following cell culture with rhIFN-α2a and rhIFN-α2b, but only in relation to the control group and seemingly without dose dependency. These results highlight the importance of the type of human IFN-αused in the treatment and study of MM, and suggest that nhIFN-α may have a role in future personalized therapy approaches.
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