title: Dacarbazine DTIC and carboplatin as an outpatient treatment for disseminated malignant melanoma.
abstract: Occasionally long-term survival in disseminated melanoma can be obtained through chemotherapy. We treated 22 patients with disseminated melanoma with an outpatient regimen consisting of dacarbazine (DTIC) and carboplatin. Three patients had a complete response lasting 4+, 9 and 9 months (survival 4+, 10 and 16 months), respectively; 3 patients had a partial response lasting 4, 6 and 8 months (survival 6+, 11+ and 14 months), respectively. Overall response was 27% (95% confidence interval 11-50%). Toxicity was relatively mild and mainly due to nausea. In 3 patients the dose of carboplatin was reduced because of grade 4 haematological toxicity. This described easy outpatient regimen shows comparable results as other polychemotherapeutic regimens in disseminated melanoma, but with a relatively mild toxicity profile.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nieboer
authors.forename: N H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Mulder
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Van Der Graaf
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Willemse
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Hospers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D016190:Carboplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D003606:Dacarbazine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D018450:Disease Progression; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D008875:Middle Aged; D009325:Nausea / Q000139:chemically induced; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D010166:Palliative Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D012074:Remission Induction; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000139:chemically induced; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D003606:Dacarbazine; D016190:Carboplatin