Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Erciyes Tip Dergisi, cilt.24, sa.4, ss.174-179, 2002 (SCI-Expanded)
Purpose: Malign melanoma has a rapid and atypical clinical course which responds to chemoimmunotherapy. In this study, the efficacy of chemoimmunotherapy in patients with metastatic malignant melanoma is evaluated. Patients and Method: Thirty metastatic malignant melanoma patients treated with chemoimmunotherapy were evaluated retrospectively. Thirty-nine were male and 11 female. The median age was 45.5 years (27-78). Results: The primary location sites of the disease were extremity (11), body (5), anorectal region (3), head and neck (3), oral mucosa (2) and the eye (2). The primary location of the disease in 4 patients was unknown. Metastatic sites during treatment were most frequently liver (36.7%) and the lungs (23.3%). A median of 4 cycles (2-6) of chemotherapy was administered. Thirteen of the patients (43.3%) had interferon alpha as well as chemotherapy. The most frequently used chemotherapeutic agents were dacarbazine and fotemustine. There was no difference in sex, age, and chemotherapy regimens between interferon administered and not administered groups. Partial remission was obtained in three patients in the interferon group and two patients in other group; totally five patients (16.7%). No complete remission was obtained. Seven patients (23.3%) had stable disease and 18 (60%) had progressive disease. There was no difference between the two groups. Progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated as (median) 9±3.1 months (95% Cl 2.88-15.12) and 12±3.2 months (95% Cl 5.82-18.18) respectively in all patients. PFS and OS were longer in interferon-administered group but this was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Although there are good results with interferon alpha and chemotherapy combination in metastatic malignant melanoma, our results between interferon administered and not administered groups did not differ significantly.