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Types of Cancer > Melanoma > Treatment Options
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| Using Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy in the Treatment of Melanoma |
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Chemotherapy is a treatment option that is sometimes used in treating advanced cases of melanoma. While chemotherapy is not commonly used in the treatment of melanoma, this type of therapy can relieve melanoma symptoms and extend the life expectancy of some melanoma patients.
With this type of treatment, drugs that kill cancer cells are administered to the cancer patient. The medication, or combination of medication, is administered either by injection or orally. The drugs then travel through the system, attacking the cancer cells that have spread to other parts of the body.
A relatively new chemotherapy treatment being used in treating some melanoma patients who have cancer that is isolated to the arms or the legs is called isolated limb perfusion. When this treatment is performed, the doctor will temporarily cut off the circulation of the limb that is being treated. Once circulation has been cut off, the doctor will administer high doses of chemotherapy medications into the affected limb by injecting the medications into the artery that runs into that limb. This procedure allows the patient to receive the benefits of chemotherapy treatment without experiencing some of the more complicated side effects.
Because there are some serious side effects associated with systemic chemotherapy, the treatment isn't used unless it is necessary. While chemotherapy is attacking the cancer cells in the body, it is also attacking normal cells that are vital to good health. Because of this, patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment often experience fatigue, hair loss, weight loss, loss of appetite, easy bruising, mouth ulcers, and reduced immunity.
The severity of the side effects experienced will depend on each individual patient, how much chemotherapy medication they're being given, and how long their course of treatment lasts. These side effects will generally subside once chemotherapy treatment has stopped. While the side effects associated with chemotherapy can be unpleasant, there are medications available that can help counter certain side effects.
Immunotherapy is another type of treatment that is sometimes used in addition to chemotherapy. This type of treatment involves enabling a patient's immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells in the body. Cytokine therapy, interferon-alpha, and vaccine therapy are all immunotherapy methods that are used to treat melanoma patients.
Cytokine therapy involves administering proteins that activate the immune system. This type of therapy can cause patients to experience fever, chills, aches, and fatigue. If cancer cells have broken off from the tumor and spread to other parts of the body, interferon-alpha can be given as an adjuvant therapy. There are serious side effects associated with this type of therapy, including heart and liver complications.
Vaccine therapy is also being researched as a possible way of treating melanoma cancer patients. This type of treatment works similar to the way antivirus vaccines, such as the flu vaccine, work. The patient is injected with a vaccine consisting of certain parts of melanoma cells in order to help stimulate the immune system to fight these cells.
Each course of melanoma treatment has its associated benefits and side effects. Exactly which treatment method or combination of treatments is used in treating any given patient will depend on how far that patient's melanoma has advanced and their individual medical circumstances.
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| Author: | Robert Dale, Certified Medical Writer |
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| Reviewer: | Jiade Jay Lu, M.D.
Diplomate, American Board of Radiology (Radiation Oncology) |
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| Publish Date: November 6, 2004 |
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