Ten women with advanced locally recurrent breast cancer who had failed to respond to radiation and hormonal and cytotoxic agents were given up to 12 weeks of recombinant leucocyte interferon 20 x 106 U/M2 daily or 50 X 106 U/M2 three times a week. Within one hour of administration influenza-like symptoms began, which one week later were superseded by lethargy, anorexia, and nausea, with a consequent loss of weight in most patients. Other side effects included profound somnolence, confusion, paraesthesia, and (in one patient) signs of an upper motor neurone lesion in the legs. All these effects together with increased slow wave activity in electroencephalograms from all patients during treatment disappeared when interferon was withdrawn and did not recur on reintroducing the drug at a lower dosage. Studies are continuing to determine the mechanisms of these effects.

Summary. One prognostic factor in epithelial ovarian cancer appears to be the patient's age at presentation. We have retrospectively analysed data from 2305 patients with this tumour in East Anglia during the period 1960–1980. The influence of age as a factor in survival was studied by comparing outcome in young patients between the ages of 15 and 35 (3.1% of all cases) with the outcome in the women over 35. The prognosis was significantly better in young patients, even when age correction is applied. This has implications for the management of patients with this common tumour.

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