Author/Editor		Ocvirk, Janja
Title		Adjuvantno in paliativno sistemsko zdravljenje malignega melanoma
Type		članek
Source		In: Miljković J, editor. Strokovno srečanje z mednarodno udeležbo 3. dermatološki dnevi; 2005 nov 11-12; Maribor. Maribor: Splošna bolnišnica Maribor,
Publication year		2005
Volume		str. 139-42
Language		slo
Abstract		Malignant melanoma is curable if treated early, whereas in advanced stages, it can be fatal. Primary treatment of choice for local, regional and isolated metastatic disease is surgery. In the patients with a melanoma of the thickness of > 4mm, the risk for disease recurrence is 50%, and in the patients with the lymph node involvement, the risk is 50-58% and depends on the number of the involved lymph nodes. In order to reduce the recurrences in the melanoma patients at high risk, adjuvant therapy with interferon alpha (IFN a) is recommended. IFN alpha is effective when administered in high-doses. The therapy with IFN a usually lasts for one year. In the patients treated with IFN alpha, the melanoma recurs less frequently and the five-year survival is improved by 24%. The IFN alpha therapy may cause some treatmentrelated toxic effects which, providentially, are controllable. Other drugs aplied as adjuvant therapies are far less effective and do not significantly improve the survival of the treated patients. The prognosis of the patients with metastatic disease is very poor. A few drugs seem to be effective, among them Dacarbazine with its effectiveness ranging from 10% to 20%. Though combined treatments may yield higher response to treatment, they do not increase the survival rate.
Descriptors		SKIN NEOPLASMS MELANOMA INTERFERON-ALPHA NEOPLASM METASTASIS PALLIATIVE CARE