Haemodynamic effects induced by intravenous administration of high doses of r-Met Hu IL-2 [ala-125] in patients with advanced cancer

Abstract

We analyzed the haemodynamic effects of high doses of r-Met Hu IL-2 [ala-125] in four patients with advanced cancer. Haemodynamic parameters were measured daily from days 1 to 6 of treatment. Mean arterial pressure decreased significantly (98±11 mmHg on day 1 versus 84±7 mmHg on day 5;p=0.0435) as did systemic vascular resistance (2042±296 dynes s cm⁻⁵ m⁻² on day 1 versus 1166±87 dynes s cm⁻⁵ m⁻² on day 5;p=0.003). There was a significant increase in mean pulmonary artery pressure (13.25±3.30 mmHg on day 1 versus 20.75±7.41 mmHg on day 5;p=0.03), systemic oxygen consumption (173.5±37.8 ml min⁻¹ m⁻² on day 1 versus 257.8±20.5 ml min⁻¹ m⁻² on day 5;p=0.02) and cardiac index (3.86±0.58 l min⁻¹ m⁻² on day 1 versus 5.77±0.21 l min⁻¹ m⁻² on day 5;p=0.008). There was no significant decrease in the arteriovenous oxygen content difference (4.5±0.8 ml dl⁻¹ on day 1 versus 4.46±0.22 ml dl⁻¹ on day 5). Increases in oxygen delivery (570±163 ml min⁻¹ m⁻² on day 1 versus 750±109 ml min⁻¹ m⁻² on day 5 and oxygen extraction ratio (29.95%±6.37% on day 1 versus 34.60%±4.35% on day 5) were not statistically significant. We concluded that the haemodynamic effect induced by high doses of r Hu-IL-2 is similar to that seen in septic shock.