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Treatment of Peyronie's disease with local interferon‐α 2b
Author(s) -
Brake M.,
Loertzer H.,
Horsch R.,
Keller H.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
bju international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1464-410X
pISSN - 1464-4096
DOI - 10.1046/j.1464-410x.2001.02139.x
Subject(s) - peyronie's disease , medicine , myalgia , alpha interferon , side effect (computer science) , surgery , prospective cohort study , erectile dysfunction , interferon , virology , computer science , programming language
Objective To evaluate the efficacy of subcutaneous interferon‐α 2b in the treatment of Peyronie's disease. Patients and methods Twenty‐three men (mean age 53 years, range 27–69) received interferon‐α 2b in an unrandomized prospective study. The drug was injected subcutaneously adjacent to the plaque three times a week for 3 weeks at a dose of 2 × 10 6 IU. The effect of interferon‐α 2b on the extent of penile deviation, plaque size and erectile pain were investigated, and the drug's side‐effects were documented. The mean (range) follow‐up was 22 (4–48) months Results All patients had pain relief and 13 of 19 with pain before treatment became pain‐free. The penile deviation was reduced in one patient; the deviation increased despite therapy in one patient and remained stable in the others. Plaque size remained unchanged in all patients. Impaired sexual function was improved in seven (30%) of the patients. Side‐effects (myalgia, fever) occurred after only four of 207 injections (2%). Conclusions Subcutaneous interferon‐α 2b is safe, well tolerated and relieves pain. However, with no objective reduction in penile deviation and plaque size, the outcome of interferon‐α 2b therapy is generally unconvincing and the drug cannot be recommended for the conservative treatment of Peyronie's disease.