Background: High-dose interleukin-2 (HD IL-2) is known to produce durable responses in metastatic melanoma. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the response of metastatic melanoma to treatment with HD IL-2.
Patients and methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on all adult patients with stage IV melanoma treated with HD IL-2 from January 2000 to October 2008 at the University of Minnesota. HD IL-2 was given intravenously every 8 hours at 600,000 IU/kg for a maximum of 14 doses per course.
Results: Fifteen patients with metastatic melanoma had been treated with HD IL-2. There were 4 patients exhibiting some response, with 1 complete response (CR), 1 partial response (PR), 1 mixed response (MR) and 2 stable disease (SD). Average time to disease progression (TTDP) was 5.67 months. Two patients had complete resolution of brain lesions after HD IL-2 therapy. One of these patients experienced CR and is disease free 34 months after stopping therapy. The other patient experienced MR and is currently alive with disease, but without recurrence of brain lesions. Twelve out of the 15 patients received 2 courses of therapy. Common grade (G) 3 and 4 adverse events included: hyperbilirubinemia (G 3=26.67%), hypotension (G 3=6.67%, G 4=6.67%), peripheral edema (G 3=26.67%), and pulmonary edema (G 3=13.33%).
Conclusion: We propose further evaluation of HD IL-2 in patients with brain metastases because this patient population is typically considered ineligible for HD IL-2 therapy.