Abstract
Metastatic melanoma is a biological state reflecting the failure of the patient's immune system to eradicate residual melanoma cells, thus it defines a state of reduced immunocompetence. The prognosis for patients with locoregional recurrence — Stage III American Joint Cancer Committee (AJCC) is poor, with 60–75% having a 5-year survival following surgery. Of those with distant metastatic disease, the majority (95–98%) die in the same timespan [ 1. South Australian Cancer RegistryEpidermiology of cancer in South Australia. Incidence, mortality and survival 1977–1995. Incidence and Mortality. 1996; : 1995 Google Scholar ]. Conventional surgical therapies, chemotherapy, irradiation, and immunotherapy, have failed to change these outcomes. IL-2 has had therapeutic effects but, like IFN-a and IL-12, causes considerable toxicity. Recent advances in DC immunotherapy produced encouraging results. Several Phase I studies have been reported, and Phase III studies are underway.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
