[Interleukin-1 in cancer therapy].

: The therapeutic potentials of interleukin-1 (IL-1) in the cancer therapy are supposed to be; 1) anti-tumor activity, 2) immunostimulating activity, and 3) hematopoietic activity. We observed that IL-1 beta revealed a directly cytostatic activity to certain tumor cells in vitro. Intratumoral or subcutaneous injection of IL-1 beta caused a complete regression and lifespan elongation of tumor-bearing mice by augmenting of the anti-tumor effects mediated by host immune responses indirectly. We have observed IL-1 beta to accelerate the recovery of the numbers of granulocytes and platelets by inducing the production of colony stimulating factors, and by stimulating the hemopoietic progenitor cells. In the phase II clinical study, IL-1 beta was proved to be effective against cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL). In the hematopoietic stimulating activity of IL-1 beta, it was reported in many clinical cases that IL-1 beta accelerated the recovery of the numbers of granulocytes and platelets in myelosuppressed patients.