# Interferon alfa-2a/2b

Source: https://onco.cc/drugs/interferon-alfa/  
OnCo record `interferon-alfa` (Treatment). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

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.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: historic
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Tags: gap-fill; historic
- 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: US 1986: Hairy cell leukaemia; US 1988: AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma; US 1995: Adjuvant high-risk melanoma (high-dose)

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferon_type_I
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferon_type_I

## Connected records

- cancers: [Adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/adult-t-cell-leukaemia-lymphoma/), [Advanced systemic mastocytosis (aggressive SM, SM with an associated haematological neoplasm, mast cell leukaemia)](https://onco.cc/cancers/advanced-systemic-mastocytosis/), [Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)](https://onco.cc/cancers/cml/), [Craniopharyngioma](https://onco.cc/cancers/craniopharyngioma/), [Erdheim-Chester disease](https://onco.cc/cancers/erdheim-chester-disease/), [Erdheim-Chester disease, Rosai-Dorfman disease and other histiocytic neoplasms](https://onco.cc/cancers/histiocytoses/), [Hairy cell leukaemia](https://onco.cc/cancers/hairy-cell-leukemia/), [Indolent and smouldering systemic mastocytosis](https://onco.cc/cancers/indolent-systemic-mastocytosis/), [Kaposi sarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/kaposi-sarcoma/), [Lymphomatoid granulomatosis](https://onco.cc/cancers/lymphomatoid-granulomatosis/), [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Mucosal melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/mucosal-melanoma/), [Mycosis fungoides](https://onco.cc/cancers/mycosis-fungoides/), [Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (including cutaneous T-cell lymphoma)](https://onco.cc/cancers/peripheral-t-cell-lymphoma/), [Polycythaemia vera (PV)](https://onco.cc/cancers/polycythaemia-vera/), [Renal cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/rcc/), [Sezary syndrome](https://onco.cc/cancers/sezary-syndrome/), [Stage III melanoma (after surgery)](https://onco.cc/cancers/stage-iii-melanoma/), [Systemic mastocytosis](https://onco.cc/cancers/systemic-mastocytosis/)
- technologies: [Cytokines & engineered cytokines](https://onco.cc/technologies/cytokine-therapy/)
- companies: [Merck & Co. (MSD)](https://onco.cc/companies/merck/), [Roche / Genentech](https://onco.cc/companies/roche-genentech/)
- trials: [EURAMOS-1](https://onco.cc/trials/euramos-1/)
- targets: [Interferon alpha receptor (IFNAR1)](https://onco.cc/targets/ifnar1/)
- drugs: [Peginterferon alfa-2b](https://onco.cc/drugs/peginterferon-alfa-2b/)
- key papers: [Erdheim-Chester disease: consensus recommendations for evaluation, diagnosis and treatment in the molecular era](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-erdheim-chester-disease-consensus-recommendations-blood-2020/)
- terms: [IPSET-thrombosis score (essential thrombocythaemia)](https://onco.cc/terms/ipset-thrombosis/), [MPN driver mutations (JAK2 V617F, CALR, MPL) and allele burden](https://onco.cc/terms/mpn-driver-mutations/)

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