RESULTS: Patients treated with IL-2 alone or in association with INFα-2b had significantly higher MADRS scores after 5 days of cytokine therapy, and patients who received both cytokines had increased scores on day 3. In contrast, patients treated with INFα-2b alone did not have varying MADRS scores during the course of treatment. Cytokine therapy had no effect on anxiety, except in patients treated with IL-2 in combination with INFα-2b. In these patients, the enhancement in anxiety scores that was observed on day 5 was mainly attributable to increased somatic complaints.