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Response of Recurrent Brain Metastases in Malignant Melanoma to 5‐Fluorouracil and Interferon‐α Therapy
Author(s) -
Phuphanich Surasak,
Jacobs Marianne,
Spiers Alexander
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of neuroimaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1552-6569
pISSN - 1051-2284
DOI - 10.1111/jon199442114
Subject(s) - medicine , fluorouracil , brain metastasis , melanoma , hemiparesis , ommaya reservoir , regimen , surgery , etoposide , radiation therapy , radiology , metastasis , chemotherapy , lesion , cancer , cancer research
A 36‐year‐old woman underwent removal of a stage II malignant melanoma from the left ankle in 1985. A single brain metastasis to the right frontal lobe was removed in July 1986. Postoperatively, she received 5‐fluorouracil, cisplatin, and etoposide (VP‐16) in conjunction with radiation therapy. She achieved remission until March 1988, when left hemiparesis occurred suddenly. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance scans revealed multiple brain metastases. She was treated with a combination of 5‐fluorouracil, 1,000 mg/m 2 in a 24‐hour continuous IV infusion for 5 days; interferon‐α, 10 million units in subcutaneous injection daily for 10 days; and oral cimetidine, 1,200 mg daily for 7 days. This regimen, repeated every 4 to 6 weeks for four cycles, was well tolerated, with complete remission of neurological deficits and resolution of the lesions seen on the brain scans until she died 11 months later of intracranial hemorrhage secondary to severe thrombocytopenia.