Biomedical subjects

L Balemans

Publications and source records attributed to L Balemans.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

Local low-dose IL-2 therapy.

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a powerful drug for treating cancer. However, it is only powerful if it is properly applied. That is, IL-2 should be applied at the tumor site, because at the transition of normal and malignant tissue are the tumor infiltrating cells. These should be activated by IL-2. Local application implies that IL-2 can be used in relatively low doses. It is becoming clear that even a single injection of IL-2 can cure cancer. IL-2 can also enhance the therapeutic effects of irradiation and Cisplatin. Locally applied IL-2 therapy is virtually non-toxic.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Monitoring of CD95 (APO-1/Fas) ligand expression in human T cells by quantitative RT-PCR.

CD95 (APO-1/Fas) receptor/ligand interaction is a key regulatory pathway for apoptosis in lymphoid cells. We developed a quantitative RT-PCR for the human CD95-L to determine expression levels in lymphoid cell lines and in lymphocytes derived from blood of healthy individuals. In untreated peripheral blood T lymphocytes and T cell lines constitutive expression of the CD95-L mRNA was found at low levels. Stimulation of T cells by treatment with PMA and ionomycine (P/I) lead up to a 100-fold maximal increase in CD95-L mRNA after 4 h. CD95-L mRNA is produced by activated CD8 and CD4T cells. In vivo increased CD95-L mRNA expression was found in freshly isolated T cells during the acute phase of EBV infection. In contrast to T cells, CD95-L mRNA could be induced in some B lineage cell lines only after five days of stimulation. Since defective or accelerated CD95/CD95-L interaction is considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of lymphoproliferation, autoimmunity and AIDS, the quantitative RT-PCR assay described in this paper may provide a powerful tool for monitoring CD95-L expression in these diseases.

Journal Article↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effective immunotherapy with local low doses of interleukin-2.

IL-2 treatment for metastatic tumors in man is usually given systemically with high doses, often in conjunction with large numbers of LAK-cells. Complete tumor regression is obtained in less than 10%, this treatment causes severe toxicity, and culturing of LAK-cells is laborious and expensive. In this paper we demonstrate that small amounts of locally applied rIL-2 alone, if given at the right time, can cure about 70% of DBA/2 mice with large metastasized syngeneic SL2 lymphoma comprising 4-10% of the total body weight, a tumor load hitherto considered fatal. Moreover, 3 out of 5 cows with ocular squamous cell carcinoma (BOSCC) of 1 x 1 up to 3 x 4 cm were cured with low doses of rIL-2 only. Taken together, we have now tested 11 tumors in animals. No antitumor effect was observed in EL4 lymphoma in C57BL mice. Partial antitumor effects were detected in RBL5 lymphoma in C57BL mice, stomach carcinoma in BALB/c mice, MOT-carcinoma in C3H mice, liver carcinoma in guinea pigs and bovine vulval papilloma/carcinoma. Complete tumor regression was obtained in SL2 lymphoma, L5178Y lymphoma, L1210 lymphoma, and P815 mastocytoma in DBA/2 mice and in bovine ocular squamous cell carcinoma. Low doses of locally injected IL-2 induce systemic immunity, as shown in DBA/2 mice bearing syngeneic SL2 lymphoma cells. We conclude that local low dose treatment can be effective and results in a high cure rate in several tumor models. In the DBA/2-SL2 lymphoma model this treatment is 100-1000 times more effective than any form of immunotherapy we have tested during 20 years in this model.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗