Schizophrenia is a strongly heritable disorder, and identification of potential candidate genes has accelerated in recent years. Genomewide scans have identified multiple large linkage regions across the genome, with fine-mapping studies and other investigations of biologically plausible targets demonstrating several promising candidate genes of modest effect. The recent introduction of technological platforms for whole-genome association (WGA) studies can provide an opportunity to rapidly identify novel targets, although no WGA studies have been reported in the psychiatric literature to date. We report results of a case–control WGA study in schizophrenia, examining 500 000 markers, which revealed a strong effect (P=3.7 10-7) of a novel locus (rs4129148) near the CSF2RA (colony stimulating factor, receptor 2 alpha) gene in the pseudoautosomal region. Sequencing of CSF2RA and its neighbor, IL3RA (interleukin 3 receptor alpha) in an independent case–control cohort revealed both common intronic haplotypes and several novel, rare missense variants associated with schizophrenia. The presence of cytokine receptor abnormalities in schizophrenia may help explain prior epidemiologic data relating the risk for this illness to altered rates of autoimmune disorders, prenatal infection and familial leukemia.

Immunoreactive cytokines have been the mainstay of treatment of renal cancer for the past 15 years. Most research has focused on interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) and interleukin 2 (IL-2). IFN-alpha has been shown in Phase III studies to produce a modest survival advantage over inactive or non-IFN-containing regimens. Its general tolerability, multiple proposed mechanisms of action, and familiarity have prompted IFN-alpha to be studied in combination with a variety of agents with potential activity against renal cell carcinoma. These various studies may justify an increased role for IFN-alpha in the treatment of renal cancer in the foreseeable future. High-dose bolus IL-2 remains the only treatment for stage IV renal cancer approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Food and Drug Administration approval was granted in 1992 based on the ability of this agent to produce durable complete responses in a small number of patients. Unfortunately, the toxicity, expense, and restricted accessibility of high-dose IL-2 make it a poor standard. Regimens involving lower doses of IL-2 either alone or in combination with IFN-alpha have generally produced fewer tumor regressions of less overall quality. Recent efforts have focused on trying to identify factors predictive of response to IL-2 therapy so that this treatment could be limited to those most likely to benefit.

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