Effective chemotherapy for melanoma after treatment with interleukin‐2

Twenty patients with biopsy‐proven metastatic malignant melanoma, previously treated with interleukin‐2 (IL‐2), received combination chemotherapy for progressive disease. Treatment included carmustine, cisplatin, dacarbazine, and tamoxifen (BCDT). Nausea was the most common toxicity (100%) and usually was mild. Persistent thrombocytopenia was the most frequent toxicity limiting further treatment. Eleven patients (55%) had an objective partial response, three patients (15%) had a minor response, and six patients (30%) had no change or progressive disease in response to this treatment. These results were comparable to the high response rates (21 of 40, 53%) achieved with BCDT in previously untreated patients with melanoma. It was concluded that prior therapy using IL‐2 does not significantly alter the response rate of metastatic melanoma to BCDT, thus suggesting that immunomodulators (e.g., IL‐2) and chemotherapeutic agents are not cross‐resistant treatments.