There may be
a promising new treatment for people who have had melanoma surgically removed
but who are at high risk for the cancer's return. The treatment, Interferon
alfa-2b (Intron A), is the first therapy that significantly increases survival
for these people at high risk. Interferons are proteins naturally produced in
small amounts by cells to fight foreign substances in the body. Patients who
received the interferon treatment were 24% more likely to survive longer than
patients who did not receive the drug. Overall median survival increased by more
than 1 year for those patients receiving the interferon. The the survival time
without disease relapse also increased by an average of about 9 months for the
patients in the interleukin group. The study followed patients over a 10-year
period.
