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Interferon-α2b

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Abstract

Interferons (IFNs) represent a large family of cytokines that are secreted by immune cells in response to pathogenic infections. Their functions include inhibition of viral replication, activation of immune cells, and up regulation of antigen presentation by stimulating MHC antigen expression in the target cells. IFN-α is a Type I interferon which signals through IFNAR receptor complex that consists of IFNAR1 and IFNAR2; it mainly has antiproliferative and antiviral effects. Among the several isoforms, IFN-α2b has been found to be effective in the treatment of melanoma and its use was approved for adjuvant therapy in surgically-treated ‘high-risk’ melanoma patients. Pegylated IFN-α2b was later developed to increase the bioavailability of IFN-α2b and increase its efficacy; its use was also approved for adjuvant therapy in melanoma patients. The present chapter provides the details of biology as well as pharmacology of IFN-α2b. The chapter begins with few historical details related to IFN discovery, then lists the different types of IFN families (Type I, II and III) and their respective receptors, describes the structure and SAR of IFN-α2b and discusses the details of IFNAR signal transduction. The results from clinical trials that tested the use of recombinant IFN-α2b and pegylated version of recombinant IFN-α2b in melanoma are then discussed, followed by a brief description of the IFN-α2b-based drugs available in the market such as Intron-A and Sylatron. The clinical pharmacology, mechanism of action, adverse reactions, drug interactions and contraindications of IFN-α2b-based drugs are then explained and then the limitations of IFN-α2b-based drugs are discussed.

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  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatology and Skin Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Anand Rotte & Madhuri Bhandaru

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Rotte, A., Bhandaru, M. (2016). Interferon-α2b. In: Immunotherapy of Melanoma. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48066-4_9

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