[Treatment of metastasising melanoma with a combination of cytostatic agents (author's transl)].

In a prospective phase-II study of 16 patients with melanoma in stage III, the influence of a combination of cytostatic drugs on tumour growth was studied. All patients had extensive metastases in soft tissues, intestines and, some of them, in bone. The treatment consisted of brief infusions of 2 mg vincristine, 200 mg carmustine and 600 mg dacarbazine per m2 body surface for six days, repeated at seven week intervals up to six times. Two of the 16 patients had complete and two had partial remission, while two remained in status quo for four and five months, respectively. In the remaining ten patients the combined therapy had no influence on the progression of the disease: the more extensive the tumour spread and the worse the general condition of the patient, the less successful was the treatment.