Does chemosensitivity-assay-directed therapy have an influence on the prognosis of patients with malignant melanoma stage IV? A retrospective study of 14 patients with malignant melanoma stage IV.
| Autor: | Doerler M; Department of Dermatology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany., Hyun J, Venten I, Potthoff A, Bartke U, Serova K, Hoextermann S, Altmeyer P, Brockmeyer NH |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Zdroj: | European journal of medical research [Eur J Med Res] 2007 Oct 30; Vol. 12 (10), pp. 497-502. |
| Abstrakt: | Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of chemosensitivity-testing directed chemotherapy in comparison with empirically chosen therapy regimens in patients with malignant melanoma stage IV. Patients and Methods: Retrospective study including 14 patients with histologically confirmed malignant melanoma and diagnosis of stage IV disease by routine diagnostic procedures. Patients in group A (n = 7) were treated according to their individual chemosensitivity testing results, whereas patients in group B (n = 7) received empirically chosen treatment regimens. Chemosensitivity testing was performed using a nonclonogenic ATP-TCA assay. For statistical analysis the Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival curves. The log-rank test was performed to compare the overall survival according to treatment group, LDH level in serum and AJCC-category. To compare the distribution of sex, LDH level in serum and AJCC-category between the treatment groups, the Fisher exact test was used. Results: The median overall survival of group A exceeded the median overall survival of group B by 8 versus 3 months, respectively with a median overall survival of 5 months for the whole study population. LDH level in serum at study entry showed a strong correlation with overall survival, with normal LDH levels leading to a statistically significant longer survival (p = 0.006 for the log-rank test, respectively). Moreover, stage AJCC M1a/b yielded to a better prognosis compared with stage AJCC M1c (log-rank test p = 0.066; not statistically significant). Conclusion: Chemosensitivity-assay directed therapy might be a useful tool in determining the optimized chemotherapeutic drug or drug combination in the individual patient and might contribute to a better prognosis in patients with metastatic melanoma stage IV. |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|