Alpha-Interferon (Wellferon) as an Adjunct to Standard Surgical Therapy in the Management of Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis

Abstract

Ten patients received lymphoblastoid alpha-interferon (Wellferon) in a crossover study so that Wellferon and standard microsurgical laryngeal laser therapy could be compared to laser therapy alone. Wellferon was administered initially at an intravenous high dose of 15 megaunits/m2 for 5 days followed by a daily dose of 2 megaunits/m2 subcutaneously for 6 months. Dosage was adjusted according to predefined toxicity. One patient was withdrawn from the study. Of the others, all but one received over 75% of the planned total dose. At follow-up of the nine assessable patients, complete remission was achieved in two of them, partial remission in four, and no response in the remainder. The two complete remissions were sustained for 2 years, but the four partial remissions were not sustained. Thus, a role for alpha-interferon in the kind of regimen used here remains to be established.

Papilomatose laríngea recorrente: experiência de 10 anos

“…Sabe-se que a papilomatose acomete com mais freqüência a região glótica, preferencialmente a porção anterior da laringe. Entretanto, os papilomas podem envolver todo o trato aerodigestivo, incluindo fossas nasais, faringe, traquéia, brônquios e, às vezes, o esôfago 14 . Os papilomas traqueais crescem mais lentamente e permanecem sésseis por longo período 15 .…”

Pegylated interferon for treating severe recurrent respiratory papillomatosis in a child: case report

“…6,9 The evidence has failed to support its use, since the reports have mostly been based on case reports and clinical trials have shown varied results with limited follow-up. 6,9,10 The association between interferon and polyethylene glycol, which is called pegylated interferon, increases the half-life of the drug, eliminates immunogenicity and improves the pharmacokinetics of the protein, such that it can be administered once a week.…”

“…Benjamin et al 10 conducted a crossover trial on 10 patients and also reported that there was an apparent benefit from using interferon in association with surgical resection, in The only published article describing a series of patients with respiratory papillomatosis who were treated with pegylated interferon reported on 11 adult patients who received PEG-IFN α2a.…”

Can zinc be an adjuvant therapy for juvenile onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis?

“…Interferon is one of the initial adjuvant therapies introduced to treat JORRP and has been tried on a large number of patients [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”

“…Prolonged treatment seems to be more favorable as it may lead to sustained response and decreased relapses. Side effects included neutropenia [9,10,13,17,18], thrombocytopenia [10], liver dysfunction [10,11,[13][14][15]17,18], nausea [11,13], anorexia [11,13,14,17,18], fatigue [10,13,16,17], vomiting [11], chills [13,18], myalgia [18], weight loss [18], malaise [10], headache [13,[16][17][18], mild to moderate alopecia [14,17], palmar erythema [15], flu-like syndrome [15], depression [16], mild lethargy [17], disorientation [18], seizure [18], febrile seizure [17], drowsiness [18], and increased bronchial secretions [18].…”