α-interferon for intractable pruritus in polycythaemia vera

Polycythemia vera‐associated pruritus and its management

“…Interferon alfa (IFN-a) is an effective drug for PV, and has been noted to be effective in the control of PV-associated pruritus [19,[37][38][39][40]. Twelve of 15 patients with severe PV-associated pruritus showed significant improvement with IFN-a therapy [41].…”

“…pruritus non-responsive to cimetidine, ranitidine, aspirin and chromoglycic acid) were given IFN-a 2b (dose range 4AE5-24 · 10 6 U) subcutaneously for 6 months [19]. Relief from pruritus occurred after 6 weeks of therapy in all four patients, and one patient became completely symptom-free.…”

“…The severity of pruritus varies from occasional mild symptoms to severe prolonged itching [5,10]. In some patients, pruritus may reduce or even disappear after the underlying haematological parameters are corrected, while in others, there may be no noticeable difference [18,19].…”

Efficacy of photochemotherapy on severe pruritis in polycythemia vera

“…Several treatments have been suggested to improve this complication of the disease: sodium bicarbonate dissolved in the bath [3], H 1 and H 2 antagonists [13], cholestyramine [4], a-interferon [7,14], phlebotomy [1]. In spite of some optimistic published results, these treatments are not really efficient and may have their own toxicity, and sometimes a high cost (particularly cimetidine or interferon).…”

Efficacy and safety of human leucocyte interferon‐α treatment in patients younger than 60 years of age with polycythaemia vera

“…Recent reports indicate that recombinant human interferon-␣ (rIFN-␣), a cytokine with in vitro and in vivo antiproliferative activity on haematopoietic stem cells devoid of carcinogenic effect, is capable of inducing and maintaining a complete haematologic remission in patients with PV [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. In addition, cases of intractable pruritus associated with PV have been found to benefit from interferon-␣ therapy [11][12][13][14]. However, long-term treatment with recombinant IFN-␣ may be hampered by intolerable side effects, particularly in elderly patients [15].…”