Therapeutic Concentrations of Antineoplastic Agents Diminish Interferon Yields

Abstract

Abstract

Interferon production was studied in the presence of therapeutic concentrations of five antineoplastic agents. None of the drugs studied grossly altered the production of interferon by fibroblasts. Virus-induced mononuclear cells, in contrast, produced significantly less interferon after prior exposure to vincristine and produced no detectable interferon after prior exposure to 6-MP. These studies establish that interferon yields in vitro may be diminished by therapeutic concentrations of antineoplastic agents, and necessitate in vivo studies to determine if this alteration in interferon production can help explain the increased severity of certain viral infections in patients with neoplastic diseases.