title: Interleukin-2 for the treatment of melanoma.
abstract: Current therapeutic options for the treatment of advanced melanoma are inadequate. Chemotherapy with dacarbazine remains a 'gold standard' despite no evidence of improved survival or durable remissions. Interleukin (IL)-2 is an immunotherapeutic agent that, when administered in a high-dose bolus schedule, produces a small number of durable remissions in patients with metastatic melanoma, and on this basis it was approved for use in the US in 1998. In randomized clinical trials, IL-2, administered as a continuous infusion either alone or in combination with chemotherapy (biochemotherapy), has not improved response rates over chemotherapy alone. Low-dose IL-2, while less toxic and more convenient, produces low response rates and appears to be ineffective in metastatic melanoma. Newer, innovative approaches such as IL-2 gene therapy and strategies to ameliorate the toxicity of this agent are now being explored in clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, UPMC Cancer Pavilion, 5150 Centre Avenue, 5th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA.
authors.forename: Ahmad A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Tarhini
authors.forename: Sanjiv S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Agarwala
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D007376:Interleukin-2