PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of two adjuvant therapy in patients with resected maxillary mucosal melanoma. METHODS: Survival analysis, retrospective study. There were 165 patients with resected maxillary mucosal malignant melanoma in the study, which were divided into three group: control group (50), interferon-alpha2b group (78) and interferon-alpha2b+dacarbazine group (37). All patients had stage II or III lesions according to AJCC(2000) staying system. Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the statistically significant prognostic factors. Kaplan-Meire method was used to calculate the cumulated survival rate with 3 different treatments and Log-rank method for comparison of the distribution of the different survival rates in 3 groups. RESULTS: The overall 3-year survival rate was 4%, with 3.0% in the control group, 4.5% in interferon-<2b group and 5.7% in interferon-alpha2b+dacarbazine group, respectively. The significant prognostic factors included thickness(P<0.001, RR=2.696), ulceration(P<0.001, RR=2.068), lymph node metastasis(P<0.001, RR=1.710) and the treatment method(P<0.001, RR=0.395). A beneficial effect in overall survival was observed in two experimental groups. But the effect appeared to become weakening after 2 years. The difference between the two experimental groups was not significant statistically. CONCLUSIONS: The two conjunctive methods used in this study can improve the overall survival in patients with resected maxillary mucosal melanoma. But the beneficial effect would descend and disappear after 2 years. The effect of using interferon-alpha2b+dacarbazine was not better than that of using interferon-alpha2b alone.
PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of two adjuvant therapy in patients with resected maxillary mucosal melanoma. METHODS: Survival analysis, retrospective study. There were 165 patients with resected maxillary mucosal malignant melanoma in the study, which were divided into three group: control group (50), interferon-alpha2b group (78) and interferon-alpha2b+dacarbazine group (37). All patients had stage II or III lesions according to AJCC(2000) staying system. Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the statistically significant prognostic factors. Kaplan-Meire method was used to calculate the cumulated survival rate with 3 different treatments and Log-rank method for comparison of the distribution of the different survival rates in 3 groups. RESULTS: The overall 3-year survival rate was 4%, with 3.0% in the control group, 4.5% in interferon-<2b group and 5.7% in interferon-alpha2b+dacarbazine group, respectively. The significant prognostic factors included thickness(P<0.001, RR=2.696), ulceration(P<0.001, RR=2.068), lymph node metastasis(P<0.001, RR=1.710) and the treatment method(P<0.001, RR=0.395). A beneficial effect in overall survival was observed in two experimental groups. But the effect appeared to become weakening after 2 years. The difference between the two experimental groups was not significant statistically. CONCLUSIONS: The two conjunctive methods used in this study can improve the overall survival in patients with resected maxillary mucosal melanoma. But the beneficial effect would descend and disappear after 2 years. The effect of using interferon-alpha2b+dacarbazine was not better than that of using interferon-alpha2b alone.