Continuous intravenous infusion of high dose recombinant interleukin 2 for advanced lymphomas--a phase II study.

The prognosis of patients with advanced refractory lymphoma remains poor. We have carried out a Phase II study of continuous high dose intravenous recombinant interleukin 2 alone without LAK cells in this group of patients. Eight patients have so far been treated, 4 with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and 4 with Hodgkins disease. Of the 7 evaluable patients, the maximum response observed was stable disease in 2 patients (1 with NHL and 1 with HD). The other patients' diseases progressed in the face of immune activation following the rIL-2 infusion. Adverse reactions were common but no life-threatening occurred. These results are disappointing. Whether or not lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells are needed to improve response rate deserve further investigations.