[Treatment of metastasized malignant melanoma]

The prognosis of stage IV melanoma is unfavourable compared to the curative surgical results in early stage. The median survival amounts to 8-10 months and only 1-2% of the patients will not relapse. Dacarbazine remains the reference standard treatment for metastatic melanoma. The modest activity of chemotherapy in stage IV has prompted investigators to consider combinations of multiagent chemotherapy, immunotherapy and biochemotherapy. Promising treatment options are melanoma vaccines to obtain an efficient immunoresponse, the combination of chemotherapy with Interleukin (IL)-2 and Interferon alfa (IFN-alpha) as a way of improving response rates and survival.