Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
1997-6-4
pubmed:abstractText
Interferon alfa-2b has recently been approved by the FDA as the first effective adjuvant therapy for the treatment of the "high risk for recurrence" melanoma patient. In a landmark study (ECOG 1684), the use of high dose Interferon alfa-2b for one year in melanoma patients with either deep primary melanomas or resected nodal metastases resulted in significant increases in overall survival (p = 0.04) and disease-free survival (p < 0.01) compared to the control, observation arm. If one considers only those patients with nodal metastases (89% of the study population) the survival benefit associated with adjuvant Interferon alfa-2b had a p value of 0.008. This survival benefit is on par with the survival benefit experienced with the adjuvant therapy of either breast or colon cancer. Because of the survival benefit associated with the adjuvant therapy, one could argue that any melanoma patient with a significant risk of nodal metastases (tumor thickness greater than 1.0 mm) should have a nodal staging procedure. Lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy techniques are the least morbid and costly method to obtain this information. By performing nodal staging on patients with melanomas greater than 1.0 mm in thickness, effective adjuvant therapy can be applied in a selective fashion, exposing only those patients who have the most to benefit to the toxicities of the therapy.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Mar
pubmed:issn
0015-4148
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
84
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
147-52
pubmed:dateRevised
2011-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1997
pubmed:articleTitle
The adjuvant treatment of malignant melanoma.
pubmed:affiliation
Cutaneous Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, University of South Florida, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study