Isolated limb infusion in patients with growing melanoma in one limb

This study evaluated the long-term outcomes of isolated limb infusion in patients with melanoma. This study found that this treatment was effective and safe.

Patients with melanoma can develop cancer that spreads or comes back after initial treatment as many small tumors. Removing these tumors by surgery is not an option, so treatment remains challenging for these patients.

Isolated limb infusion (ILI) is another option. This procedure directly delivers anti-cancer drugs to the limb where the cancer is. This type of treatment can be done many times. Previous studies have shown that this treatment is effective for patients with melanoma that is spreading through a limb. The long-term outcomes of ILI for these patients remain under investigation.

This study had 687 patients. All patients had melanoma that was restricted to one limb but spreading in that limb. 88% of patients had cancer in one leg. All patients had ILI treatment. Patients were followed-up for an average of 47 months.

Overall, 64.1% of patients responded to treatment. 28.9% of patients completely responded to treatment, meaning the cancer was completely eliminated from that limb. 35.2% of patients had tumor shrinkage. 19.8% of patients had tumor growth or spread.

At follow-up, patients survived for an average of 38.2 months on average. Patients who had a complete response had a significantly longer survival compared to patients who did not have a complete response (46.5 months vs. 24.4 months).

Significantly more patients who responded to treatment lived for longer without tumor growth or spread compared to patients who did not respond to treatment (21.9 months vs. 3.0 months).

3.9% of patients reported side effects.

The study concluded that ILI is safe and effective for patients with melanoma that is only in one limb.

This study was retrospective, meaning it looked back in time to analyze data. Also, ILI was not compared to any other treatments. This may bias the results. More studies are needed to compare ILI to other treatments for melanoma.

Talk to your doctor to find out if ILI may a treatment option for you.