Biomaterial Database

3-year treatment with recombinant interferon-alpha as adjuvant therapy of cutaneous malignant melanoma. 1999

P A Ascierto, and G Palmieri, and R Parasole, and A Daponte, and G Castello

Department of Clinical Immunology, National Tumor Institute G. Pascale, 80131 Naples, Italy. The Melanoma Cooperative Group.

Interferon alpha (IFN alpha) has been demonstrated to possess a significant biological activity for cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM). Although multiple adjuvant trials utilizing IFNá have been tested, no consensus on the optimal dosing schedule has been reached. From February 1993 to October 1997 we enrolled 86 CMM patients using low doses of IFN alpha-2b (3 MU/d TIW SC for 3 years) in a phase II study. Our present data show a median disease-free survival (DFS) of 30 months (range 2-62), comparable to those obtained in high-dose IFN alpha trials. These findings suggest that positive results may be also obtained using low doses of IFN alpha in adjuvant treatment of CMM patients. in contrast to the high dose, the low dose regimen was well tolerated with an acceptable quality of life of patients.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007370	Interferon Type I	Interferon secreted by leukocytes, fibroblasts, or lymphoblasts in response to viruses or interferon inducers other than mitogens, antigens, or allo-antigens. They include alpha- and beta-interferons (INTERFERON-ALPHA and INTERFERON-BETA).	Interferons Type I,Type I Interferon,Type I Interferons,Interferon, Type I,Interferons, Type I
D007558	Italy	A country in southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia. The capital is Rome.	Sardinia
D008297	Male		Males
D008545	Melanoma	A malignant neoplasm derived from cells that are capable of forming melanin, which may occur in the skin of any part of the body, in the eye, or, rarely, in the mucous membranes of the genitalia, anus, oral cavity, or other sites. It occurs mostly in adults and may originate de novo or from a pigmented nevus or malignant lentigo. Melanomas frequently metastasize widely, and the regional lymph nodes, liver, lungs, and brain are likely to be involved. The incidence of malignant skin melanomas is rising rapidly in all parts of the world. (Stedman, 25th ed; from Rook et al., Textbook of Dermatology, 4th ed, p2445)	Malignant Melanoma,Malignant Melanomas,Melanoma, Malignant,Melanomas,Melanomas, Malignant
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D009367	Neoplasm Staging	Methods which attempt to express in replicable terms the extent of the neoplasm in the patient.	Cancer Staging,Staging, Neoplasm,Tumor Staging,TNM Classification,TNM Staging,TNM Staging System,Classification, TNM,Classifications, TNM,Staging System, TNM,Staging Systems, TNM,Staging, Cancer,Staging, TNM,Staging, Tumor,System, TNM Staging,Systems, TNM Staging,TNM Classifications,TNM Staging Systems
D011788	Quality of Life	A generic concept reflecting concern with the modification and enhancement of life attributes, e.g., physical, political, moral, social environment as well as health and disease.	HRQOL,Health-Related Quality Of Life,Life Quality,Health Related Quality Of Life
D011994	Recombinant Proteins	Proteins prepared by recombinant DNA technology.	Biosynthetic Protein,Biosynthetic Proteins,DNA Recombinant Proteins,Recombinant Protein,Proteins, Biosynthetic,Proteins, Recombinant DNA,DNA Proteins, Recombinant,Protein, Biosynthetic,Protein, Recombinant,Proteins, DNA Recombinant,Proteins, Recombinant,Recombinant DNA Proteins,Recombinant Proteins, DNA
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man