In this study, the researchers treated 153 patients who were at high risk for recurrence or who had already had a recurrence. The principal side effect was nausea. With a median follow-up period in this study of 36 months, the researchers can predict with confidence that 79 percent of participants will be alive five years after treatment. These statistics, while preliminary, are very encouraging because we have had precious little to offer patients with metastatic melanoma, said McClay. With the best currently available treatment, the five-year survival rate in similar patients is only about 35 to 45 percent.
Malignant melanoma is one of the most virulent and deadly types of cancer.
This year, at least 48,000 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in the United States and 7,700 people will die of the disease. This work was supported in part by a grant from the National Cancer Institute and by the Bruce Brunner Gorder Memorial Melanoma Fund. S.C. The Melanoma Care Unit is a patient-care and research program of UCSD Cancer Center , the only cancer center in San Diego and Imperial counties designated for both research and clinical care by the National Cancer Institute.