Treatment Information

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Melanoma treatment details. Chemotherapy.

Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center, Dallas, TX, United States.

Survival: monthsCountry:United States
Toxiciy Grade:5City/State/Province:Dallas, TX
Treatments:ChemotherapyHospital:Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center
Drugs:Journal:Link
Date:Jul 2009

Description:

Patients:
There were 74 patients with metastatic melanoma involved in this Phase II trial. Of these, 50 (67.6%) were male. The median patient age was 58 years old, with a range of 27-79.

Treatments:
Patients were given a combination of two chemotherapeutic drugs, cisplatin and talabostat. Talabostat is an agent that stimulates the immune system to kill cancer cells.

Toxicity:
During this study, 39 (52.7%) patients died, the majority of these deaths (36 of 39) resulting from progressive disease. In addition, adverse events of Grade 3 or higher were experienced by 56.8% of patients. These effects included anemia, thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, and tinnitus (ringing in the ears).

Results:
The median overall survival in this study was 7.6 months.

Support:
Two of the authors are employed by Point Therapeutics, Inc., makers of talabostat.

Correspondence: Dr. John Nemunaitis



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