Interferon is an agent that stimulates the immune cells to help fight cancer. In an article published in Bone Marrow Transplantation it said that the addition of interferon following an autologous stem cell transplant improves survival for children with recurrent Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Patients that have their Hodgkin's lymphoma return after initial treatment may undergo an autologous stem cell transplant. In an autologous stem cell transplant a patients own cells are collected prior to high-dose chemotherapy and then re-infused.
The researchers wanted to evaluate whether the addition of interferon to the stem cell transplant could improve outcomes. The trial included 13 children with recurrent Hodgkin's lymphoma who were treated with an autologous stem cell transplant. Ten of these patients then went on to receive the interferon.
Follow up at five years shows that nine of the ten patients treated with interferon are alive and cancer free. The researchers concluded that interferon provided significant anticancer activity following the transplant.
