Tumor necrosis factor: is it time to change the name?

Excerpt

Among targets of biological agents, tumor necrosis factor remains in the exclusive group that has retained its historical name - or at least one of them. Tumor necrosis factor is usually known by the three-letter abbreviation TNF and somehow has escaped a more bland and nondescript moniker such as IL-something. Endogenous pyrogen is now IL-1, B-cell stimulatory factor-2 is now IL-6, and T-cell growth factor is IL-2. But TNF is still TNF. The other name for TNF, cachectin, seems long gone, although arguably the metabolic actions of TNF are more relevant to the setting of inflammatory and autoimmune disease than a capacity to kill tumors. Although the name TNF has withstood the test of time, it depicts few of its myriad activities and little of its profound impact on the function of the brain, liver, and heart among other organs and tissues. …