Abstract
The effect of local administration of human interferon-α (IFN) to seventeen patients with primary brain tumor was investigated. Their histological diagnoses were glioblastoma (10), astrocytoma (3), medulloblastoma (1), ependymoma (1), ependymoblastoma (1), and pontine glioma (1) . IFN therapy was started when any sign of tumor recurrence was manifested by clinical symptoms and/or computed tomography scans. IFN was administered through a Ommaya reservoir or by intrathecal injection. Each injection consisted of 106I.U. of IFN. The patients were divided at random into two groups. In the first group (9 cases), IFN was administered once or twice a week (intermittent group). In the second group (8 cases), IFN was administered every day for one month followed by a one month suspension of administration (daily group).
The average duration of the IFN therapy was 4.1 months for the intermittent group and 1.9 months for the daily group. The average total dose of IFN administered was 11.2×106I.U. in the intermittent group and 40.4×106I.U. in the daily group. No tumor regression was seen in the intermittent group. However, in two out of eight cases in the daily group, a decrease of the tumor volume to less than 50% of the initial volume and augmentation of natural killer activity were seen. Complete remission could not be obtained either by local or systemic administration of IFN. Local administration might be better than systemic administration from the viewpoint of a direct anti-tumor effect.
