Adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy with dacarbazine in high-risk childhood melanoma. 1987

A W Boddie, and A Cangir
Department of Surgery, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute at Houston 77030.

Four of four children with clinical Stage II-IIIB childhood melanoma treated at The University of Texas System Cancer Center M.D. Anderson Hospital with surgical excision of gross disease and adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy with dimethyl triazeno-imidazole carboxamide (dacarbazine) were alive without evidence of disease at 2, 6, 9.5, and 10.5 years after treatment. In one of the four patients suspected pulmonary nodules developed shortly after the start of chemotherapy, but regressed completely with continued treatment. In another patient with a primary left wrist melanoma and palpable epitrochlear and axillary nodes, there was dramatic shrinkage of nodal disease during chemotherapy and subsequent biopsies were cytologically negative. The expected survival of children with this rare condition when diagnosed at a comparably advanced stage and treated primarily by surgery is 32% compared with the 100% survival in these four cases. Although dacarbazine has not been notably successful as adjuvant therapy in high-risk adult melanoma, data from this small series is suggestive of an adjuvant effect in high-risk childhood melanoma and merits further study although the rarity of this condition may make a controlled trial difficult.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007223 Infant A child between 1 and 23 months of age. Infants
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
D002648 Child A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL. Children
D003131 Combined Modality Therapy The treatment of a disease or condition by several different means simultaneously or sequentially. Chemoimmunotherapy, RADIOIMMUNOTHERAPY, chemoradiotherapy, cryochemotherapy, and SALVAGE THERAPY are seen most frequently, but their combinations with each other and surgery are also used. Multimodal Treatment,Therapy, Combined Modality,Combined Modality Therapies,Modality Therapies, Combined,Modality Therapy, Combined,Multimodal Treatments,Therapies, Combined Modality,Treatment, Multimodal,Treatments, Multimodal
D003606 Dacarbazine An antineoplastic agent. It has significant activity against melanomas. (from Martindale, The Extra Pharmacopoeia, 31st ed, p564) DTIC,5-(3,3-Dimethyl-1-triazeno)imidazole-4-carboxamide,Biocarbazine,DIC,DTIC-Dome,Decarbazine,Deticene,Dimethyl Imidazole Carboxamide,Dimethyl Triazeno Imidazole Carboxamide,ICDT,NSC-45388,Carboxamide, Dimethyl Imidazole,DTIC Dome,DTICDome,Imidazole Carboxamide, Dimethyl,NSC 45388,NSC45388
D005260 Female Females
D005500 Follow-Up Studies Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease. Followup Studies,Follow Up Studies,Follow-Up Study,Followup Study,Studies, Follow-Up,Studies, Followup,Study, Follow-Up,Study, Followup
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012189 Retrospective Studies Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons. Retrospective Study,Studies, Retrospective,Study, Retrospective

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