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The Treatment of Stage I Melanoma of the Extremities with Regional Hyperthermic Isolation Perfusion

One hundred twenty-two clinically Stage I malignant melanoma patients were treated prospectively in a nonrandomized trial by hyperthermic isolation perfusion with l-phenylalanine mustard (l-Pam), regional lymphadenectomy (RL), and wide local excision (WLE) between April 1965 and July 1980. There were 31 males and 91 females. All primary lesions were retrospectively microstaged by Clark's levels and Breslow's thickness criteria by one of the senior authors. Morphologically, 71% were superficial spreading melanomas (SSM), 16.5% were nodular melanomas (NM), and 11.9% were acral lentiginous melanomas. Survival by microstaging and morphology are reported in Table 1. Eighty-one per cent of all patients were disease-free at five years. Twenty-three patients (18.8%) recurred and of these, 15 died of their disease. This included six of the seven patients with histologically positive lymph nodes. Complications were not only acceptable but preventable and will be discussed. Microstaging provides a valid basis by which to compare treatment regimens and, more importantly, a valid criteria by which to select treatment for a given patient. These data compare favorably with other reported series. At the time these studies were initiated, five-year survivals for clinically Stage I and II melanoma were roughly 55% and 15%, respectively. Existing data clearly indicate that hyperthermic isolation perfusion with RL is superior to WLE and warrants further study in selected patients.