{"entity":{"id":"interferon-alfa","kind":"drug","name":"Interferon alfa-2a/2b","aka":[],"tldr":"Interferon alfa was the first biologic cancer drug (1986). It treated hairy cell leukaemia, CML, melanoma, kidney cancer and Kaposi sarcoma, and has been replaced almost everywhere by better-tolerated agents.","summary":"Approved 1986 for hairy cell leukaemia, then AIDS-KS (1988), CML (1990s), adjuvant melanoma (1995, high-dose; pegylated 2011) and follicular lymphoma. Flu-like symptoms, depression, fatigue and autoimmunity limited use; imatinib, checkpoint inhibitors and TKIs replaced it, and the non-pegylated products were discontinued (Intron A 2021, Roferon-A 2007). Interferon survives in MPN as ropeginterferon.","status":"historic","asOf":"2026-09-08","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferon_type_I","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferon_type_I"}],"tags":["gap-fill","historic"],"related":[],"cancers":["hairy-cell-leukemia","cml","melanoma","kaposi-sarcoma","rcc","polycythaemia-vera","erdheim-chester-disease"],"sections":[],"technologies":["cytokine-therapy"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":["roche-genentech","merck"],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["euramos-1"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"brand":"Roferon-A / Intron A / Sylatron","modality":"Recombinant type I interferon (cytokine)","mechanism":"Signals through IFNAR to induce antiproliferative, pro-apoptotic and immunostimulatory interferon-stimulated genes.","approvals":[{"region":"US","year":1986,"indication":"Hairy cell leukaemia"},{"region":"US","year":1988,"indication":"AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma"},{"region":"US","year":1995,"indication":"Adjuvant high-risk melanoma (high-dose)"}],"mechanismSteps":[],"toxicity":[],"access":[],"regulatoryEvents":[]},"route":"/drugs/interferon-alfa/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"adult-t-cell-leukaemia-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma","route":"/cancers/adult-t-cell-leukaemia-lymphoma/"},{"id":"advanced-systemic-mastocytosis","kind":"cancer","name":"Advanced systemic mastocytosis (aggressive SM, SM with an associated haematological neoplasm, mast cell leukaemia)","route":"/cancers/advanced-systemic-mastocytosis/"},{"id":"cml","kind":"cancer","name":"Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)","route":"/cancers/cml/"},{"id":"craniopharyngioma","kind":"cancer","name":"Craniopharyngioma","route":"/cancers/craniopharyngioma/"},{"id":"erdheim-chester-disease","kind":"cancer","name":"Erdheim-Chester disease","route":"/cancers/erdheim-chester-disease/"},{"id":"histiocytoses","kind":"cancer","name":"Erdheim-Chester disease, Rosai-Dorfman disease and other histiocytic neoplasms","route":"/cancers/histiocytoses/"},{"id":"hairy-cell-leukemia","kind":"cancer","name":"Hairy cell leukaemia","route":"/cancers/hairy-cell-leukemia/"},{"id":"indolent-systemic-mastocytosis","kind":"cancer","name":"Indolent and smouldering systemic mastocytosis","route":"/cancers/indolent-systemic-mastocytosis/"},{"id":"kaposi-sarcoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Kaposi sarcoma","route":"/cancers/kaposi-sarcoma/"},{"id":"lymphomatoid-granulomatosis","kind":"cancer","name":"Lymphomatoid granulomatosis","route":"/cancers/lymphomatoid-granulomatosis/"},{"id":"melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Melanoma","route":"/cancers/melanoma/"},{"id":"mucosal-melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Mucosal melanoma","route":"/cancers/mucosal-melanoma/"},{"id":"mycosis-fungoides","kind":"cancer","name":"Mycosis fungoides","route":"/cancers/mycosis-fungoides/"},{"id":"peripheral-t-cell-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (including cutaneous T-cell lymphoma)","route":"/cancers/peripheral-t-cell-lymphoma/"},{"id":"polycythaemia-vera","kind":"cancer","name":"Polycythaemia vera (PV)","route":"/cancers/polycythaemia-vera/"},{"id":"rcc","kind":"cancer","name":"Renal cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/rcc/"},{"id":"sezary-syndrome","kind":"cancer","name":"Sezary syndrome","route":"/cancers/sezary-syndrome/"},{"id":"stage-iii-melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Stage III melanoma (after surgery)","route":"/cancers/stage-iii-melanoma/"},{"id":"systemic-mastocytosis","kind":"cancer","name":"Systemic mastocytosis","route":"/cancers/systemic-mastocytosis/"}],"technology":[{"id":"cytokine-therapy","kind":"technology","name":"Cytokines & engineered cytokines","route":"/technologies/cytokine-therapy/"}],"company":[{"id":"merck","kind":"company","name":"Merck & Co. (MSD)","route":"/companies/merck/"},{"id":"roche-genentech","kind":"company","name":"Roche / Genentech","route":"/companies/roche-genentech/"}],"trial":[{"id":"euramos-1","kind":"trial","name":"EURAMOS-1","route":"/trials/euramos-1/"}],"target":[{"id":"ifnar1","kind":"target","name":"Interferon alpha receptor (IFNAR1)","route":"/targets/ifnar1/"}],"drug":[{"id":"peginterferon-alfa-2b","kind":"drug","name":"Peginterferon alfa-2b","route":"/drugs/peginterferon-alfa-2b/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-erdheim-chester-disease-consensus-recommendations-blood-2020","kind":"paper","name":"Erdheim-Chester disease: consensus recommendations for evaluation, diagnosis and treatment in the molecular era","route":"/key-papers/paper-erdheim-chester-disease-consensus-recommendations-blood-2020/"}],"term":[{"id":"ipset-thrombosis","kind":"term","name":"IPSET-thrombosis score (essential thrombocythaemia)","route":"/terms/ipset-thrombosis/"},{"id":"mpn-driver-mutations","kind":"term","name":"MPN driver mutations (JAK2 V617F, CALR, MPL) and allele burden","route":"/terms/mpn-driver-mutations/"}]}}