Interferon therapy
Interferon therapy is improved by concomitant administration of an agent which minimizes the ability of interferon to up-regulate expression of Programmed Cell Death Protein 1 (also known as CD279).
1. A method of treating a human patient with interferon comprising:
a. diagnosing in a human patient a cancer which may be treated with interferon, and then
b. administering to the human patient interferon or an agent which induces interferon in a therapeutically effective amount, wherein interferon up-regulates programmed death protein ligand (PD-L1), and
c. administering to the human a monoclonal antibody against programmed cell death protein 1, the monoclonal antibody against programmed cell death protein 1 administered in an amount effective to ameliorate the decrease in T cell function which interferon would cause,
whereby the monoclonal antibody against programmed cell death protein 1 ameliorates the decrease in T cell function caused by interferon.
2. A method consisting essentially of the method of claim 1 .
3. The method of claim 1 , where the patient is treated with interferon and the monoclonal antibody against programmed cell death protein 1 at about the same time.
4. The method of claim 1 , where the interferon comprises exogenously-produced interferon polypeptide.
5. The method of claim 1 , where the agent induces the patient to endogenously express interferon.
6. The method of claim 5 , where the agent is a vector carrying an expressible interferon transgene.
7. The method of claim 5 , where the agent is selected from the group consisting of microbial antigen, viral antigen and microbial or viral antigen analog.
8. The method of claim 7 , where the agent comprises viral antigen analog comprising Poly I:C.
9. The method of claim 7 , where the agent comprises bacterial antigen.
10. The method of claim 7 , where the agent comprises viral antigen.
11. The method of claim 10 , where the agent comprises antigenic virus.
12. The method of claim 1 , where interferon is Type I interferon.
13. The method of claim 12 , where the Type I interferon comprises interferon alpha.
14. The method of claim 12 , where the Type I interferon comprises interferon beta.
15. A method of treating a human patient with interferon comprising: administering to the human patient a therapeutically-effective amount of interferon or an agent which induces interferon, wherein interferon up-regulates programmed death protein ligand (PD-L1), and administering a monoclonal antibody against programmed cell death protein 1 in an amount effective to ameliorate the T cell suppressing effect of interferon.
16. The method of claim 15 , where the agent induces the patient to endogenously express interferon comprises inducing expression of a therapeutically-effective amount of interferon.