Chemoimmunotherapy for disseminated malignant melanoma: a prospective randomized study

Twenty-eight patients with disseminated malignant melanoma were treated with DTIC (250 mg/m2 iv, Days 1--5) and actinomycin D (0.5 mg/day iv, Days 1--5) at 5-week intervals. Patients were randomly allocated to receive no immunotherapy or immunotherapy consisting of methanol extracted residue of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (0.5 mg intradermally; 100 microgram in five separate sites) every 5 weeks, concomitant with chemotherapy. Of these 28 evaluable patients, 13 received chemoimmunotherapy with one complete response (CR) and 15 received chemotherapy alone with one CR. Both responses occurred in lymph node metastases. No partial responses were seen.