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Article: The therapeutic potential and problems of interleukin-2. (Cover Story)
- Article from:
- Chemistry and Industry
- Article date:
- September 6, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Society of Chemical Industry. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It causes some unusual and disconcerting side effects, but interleukin-2 could prove to be a useful weapon in the fight against cancer
As I am writing this I am watching a 45 year old Polish man lying in a hospital bed, his skin angry and flaking, his face confused and contorted, and his temperature over 40[degrees]C, as he shakes and shivers through another rigor. His friends have clubbed together to raise over [pound]10,000 for his treatment. Why are they paying so much for him to be so tortured?
The answer is that he is suffering from malignant melanoma -- a disease destined to become more common as the ozone layer is depleted and acres of bare flesh ...