Interfeuron

I recently had a large mole on my upper left arm removed which came back malignant melanoma.  I underwent surgery to remove a large amount of flesh around the site as well as 2 lymphnodes.  I had a basal cell carcinorma removed from my forehead at the same time.  The results came back negative for any more cancer cells.  However, my oncologist has scheduled me for a PET scan in Oct 2008 as well as another in Jan. 2009.  He also is wanting to have interfeuron treatment (or some other type of medicine).  If I am cancer free, why is this necessary and what other types of medicines are available without the serious side effects of interfeuron?

Rebecca
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[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  The interferon is necessary to prevent or delay the recurrence of melanoma.  Forty six percent of patients with stage 3 melanoma (if you have positive nodes, I think you're in this stage) who were given peg-interferon were still free of disease at 4 years after the operation, compared to only 39% of those who did not receive any drug after surgery.  There are other chemotherapy drugs used to treat melanoma, such as dacarbazine or temozolomide, but these have their own set of adverse effects, and are only approved for use in metastatic disease.