Intermediate- and high-risk melanoma.
Intermediate and high risk for recurrence melanoma comprise a unique subset of patients with surgically treatable melanoma for whom cure is possible but relapse and distant metastases likely. Strategies to improve the prognosis for such patients with effective adjuvant therapies are critical. In recent randomized trials conducted by the cooperative groups in the United States of patients at high risk for recurrence (patients with thick primary melanomas and those with regional lymph node metastases) administered adjuvant therapy with high-dose interferon alfa-2b (HDI), relapse-free survival and overall survival rates improved significantly. Research efforts in this area continue to assess the role of intermediate-dose interferon, but there is no convincing evidence of success of the lower-dose regimens, despite the reduction in toxicity. For a subset of patients at highest risk (two or more involved lymph nodes), a regimen of therapy for metastatic stage IV melanoma (interleukin-2 based biochemotherapy) is being compared with HDI in an ongoing phase III trial. For intermediate-risk melanoma, no effective adjuvant therapy is available. For such patients, enrollment in ongoing clinical trials assessing the role of shorter courses of HDI or vaccines should be encouraged.
Agarwala
Sanjiv S
SS
University of Pittsburgh, N-755 MUH, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. agarwalass@msx.upmc.edu
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012307:Risk Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D015996:Survival Rate
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D007376:Interleukin-2; D011994:Recombinant Proteins