Summary
Laboratory data suggest a synergistic interaction between carmustine (BCNU) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) in melanoma. We therefore studied the activity of 200 mg/m2 BCNU given alone or in combination with 88 μg/m2 recombinant human TNF-alpha (rhTNFα) as a daily i. v. infusion for 5 days at 48-day intervals to patients with metastatic melanoma. In this randomised phase II trial, the rate of response to BCNU alone was 20% [95% confidence interval (CI), 2%–38%], and this was not improved by the addition of TNF (response rate, 10.5%; 95% CI, 1.3%–33%). Toxicity was higher in the combination arm, and there was no difference in survival.
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Jones, A.L., O'Brien, M.E.R., Lorentzos, A. et al. A randomised phase II study of carmustine alone or in combination with tomour necrosis factor in patients with advanced melanoma. Cancer Chemother. Pharmacol. 30, 73–76 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00686489
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00686489