Review Article

Adjuvant Treatment of Melanoma

Table 11

Arguments for and against high dose interferon as adjuvant treatment.

(1) Arguments in favour:
 (i) A consistent improvement in disease-free survival has been demonstrated in all studies carried out
 (ii) An improvement in global survival has been shown, but without this being statistically significant
 (iii) The toxicity is high, but manageable by experienced medical teams
 (iv) No other therapeutic regime has shown benefits in the adjuvance of melanoma

(2) Arguments against:
 (i) It is not clear which population most benefits from the adjuvant treatment
 (ii) The benefit is only clear for disease-free survival, with no consistent information referring to global survival
 (iii) The toxicity is considerable
 (iv) The ideal duration and dose for the treatment are unknown