Local immunotherapy with interleukin - 2 delivered from biodegradable polymer microspheres combined with interstitial chemotherapy: a novel treatment for experimental malignant glioma.

OBJECTIVE:Local delivery of carmustine(BCNU)from biodegradablepolymers prolongs survival against experi-mental brain tumors.Moreover,paracrine administration of interleukin-2(IL-2)has been shown to elicit apotent antitumor immune response and to improve survival in animal brain tumor models.We report the use of anovel polymeric microsphere delivery vehicle to release IL-2.We demonstrate both in vitro release of cytokinefrom the microspheres and histological evidence of the inflammatory response elicited by IL-2 released from themicrospheres in the rat brain.Thees microspheres are used to deliver IL-2,and biodegradable polymer wafers