Interferon in France: Trial Condemned

Abstract

Professor Georges Mathe, a prominent French cancer researcher, has questioned the competence of the physicians involved in preliminary trials of interferon in cancer treatment. Mathe also criticized the design of the trials, which have resulted in the deaths of four out of eleven patients, and asked for the resignation of the members of the scientific council set up to monitor the experiments. IPP (Institut Pasteur Production), which produces the interferon, is performing toxicity trials with a purified derivative that could be the subject of new clinical trials. (KIE abstract)