Prolonged survival of 2 years or longer for patients with disseminated melanoma. An analysis of related prognostic factors.

Abstract

In the current analysis, prolonged survival of 2 years or longer for patients with disseminated melanoma was shown to depend on gender, site of primary metastasis, number of metastatic sites, and Karnofsky performance status. Of the modalities of therapy given, only surgery significantly influenced survival. However, in a small percentage of patients, long term complete remission was achieved with chemotherapy alone or in combination with surgery, suggesting that such regimens might be curative in selected cases.