Statistical Survey from 1982 to 1991 of 49 Patients with Malignant Melanocytic Tumors

Abstract

We investigated the clinical characteristics and outcome of 49 patients with malignant melanoma: 17 with acral lentiginous melanoma; 14 with nodular melanoma, six with superficial spreading melanoma, one with lentigo maligna melanoma, eight with melanoma in situ, one with malignant blue nevus, and two with melanoma of unknown origin. Of the 41 patients without melanoma in situ, 34.1% were in stage I, 17.1% in stage II, and 48.8% in stage III. No patients had reached stage IV. All patients with stage I, II, and III melanoma were treated with wide resection, lymph node dissection including prophylactic dissection, and combination chemotherapy with dacarbazine, nimustine hydrochloride, and vincristine (DAV) with or without Interferon-beta. The statistical analysis revealed that tumor thickness and level of invasion were factors significantly associated with outcome. A gradual increase in the number of new cases of melanoma was seen each year of the registration period (1982-1991); there was an approximately 4-fold increase during this decade over the previous decade. The majority of the primary lesions (80.5%) were located on the upper or lower extremities, the pT4 tumor thickness subgroup was the most frequent (39.0% of all melanomas), and invasion level IV was the most common (42.5%). About half (51.2%) of the melanoma patients were stage I or II; this group had a 5-year survival rate of 100%. The stage III patients had a 5-year survival rate of only 54.2% (p < 0.05).

Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus: a study of clinical features, pathology, management and prognosis

“…At present, chemotherapy and immunotherapy do not have major roles in the treatment of PMME. Several authors have reported a therapeutic effect of DTIC for melanomas that originate in organs other than the esophagus 16,17 . DTIC, ACNU, VCR, and platinum analogs all have therapeutic activity in cutaneous melanoma, and combination therapy that often includes tamoxifen is currently under investigation.…”

“…Several authors have reported a therapeutic effect of DTIC for melanomas that originate in organs other than the esophagus. 16,17 DTIC, ACNU, VCR, and platinum analogs all have therapeutic activity in cutaneous melanoma, and combination therapy that often includes tamoxifen is currently under investigation. Recently, a new combination therapy that uses chemotherapeutic and biological agents, e.g., cisplatin, interleukin-2 and interferonalpha, was reported to be effective against metastatic melanoma with a response rate that exceeded 50%.…”

Synergistic effects of interferon‐beta and nivolumab in oral mucosal melanoma

“…Combination of IFN‐β and systemic chemotherapy is expected to provide better prognosis in melanoma patients. Previously, adjuvant therapy with DAV was applied to the treatment of cutaneous melanomas . However, DAV‐feron therapy brought no significant improvement in either disease‐free survival rates or melanoma‐specific survival rates of patients with cutaneous melanomas .…”

Stage III Melanoma Treated With Chemotherapy After Surgery During the Second Trimester of Pregnancy

“…In 1 case, when chemotherapy was given to a patient with metastatic melanoma in the first trimester, the infant developed microphthalmos and hypermetropia. 6 Although treatment with interferon alfa-2b appears beneficial, 7 we used DAV-feron because the risk for teratogenicity and abortion appears low during the second and third trimester. In 2 other cases of metastatic melanomas treated with che-motherapy during pregnancy, the children survived, but the mothers died shortly after delivery.…”