Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Treatment of metastatic melanoma with combined chemotherapy containing cisplatin, vinblastine and dacarbazine (CVD) and biotherapy using interleukin-2 and interferon-alpha.
Metastatic melanoma is commonly treated with chemotherapy and/or biological agents used separately. In this study we have investigated the efficacy of combined chemotherapy using cisplatin, vinblastine, DTIC (CVD) and biological therapy using interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) in patients with metastatic melanoma. ⋯ The sequential combination of CVD with IL-2 + IFN-alpha appears to have produced an increase in the number of durable responses in patients with metastatic melanoma. The toxicity of this program, although severe, was manageable. The biochemotherapy regimen produced an apparent increase in the median survival compared to that observed with the CVD regimen. However, a prospective comparison of these two regimens will be required to confirm these observations.