[Antitumor efficacy of recombinant interferon-beta on human glioma].

The antitumor efficacy of recombinant interferon-beta (rIFN-beta) on human glioblastomas was investigated in vitro and in meningeal gliomatosis(MG) models. A total of 1.5 X 10(5) human glioma (ONS-12 and ONS-20) cells were suspended in 2 ml of RPMI-1640 with 10% fetal calf serum and placed in plastic dishes (Falcon #3001). rIFN-beta 10(2)-10(5) units were then added to each culture dish on days 3, 5 and 7. Both ONS-12 and ONS-20 human glioma cells were suppressed with a low dose of rIFN-beta. As MG models, 5 X 10(7) ONS-12 glioma cells were suspended in saline and transcutaneously inoculated into the cisterna magna of BALB/c nu/nu mice using a 27-gauge needle. The median survival times (MST) of MG models which were treated by intrathecal administration of 10(3) U of rIFN-beta and intraperitoneal injection of 10(4) U of rIFN-beta were 11.0 and 8.0 days, compared with an MST of 7 days for control mice. The rIFN-beta was not effective by intraperitoneal administration but was effective by intrathecal administration in the MG models. The MSTs of MG models which were treated by administration of 10(5) U, 10(3) U of rIFN-beta and 0.1 ml saline were 15.0, 19.0 and 9.0 days, respectively. The therapeutic efficacy in MG models depended on the administration route of rIFN-beta, and as far as could be determined from the MG models, high-dose administration of rIFN-beta was not always useful.