A phase I-II trial of the combination of recombinant leukocyte A interferon and recombinant human interferon-gamma in patients with metastatic malignant melanoma

Twenty patients with advanced malignant melanoma received daily intramuscular recombinant leukocyte A interferon (rIFN-alpha A, Roferon-A, Hoffmann-Laroche, Nutley, NJ) concomitant with recombinant human interferon-gamma (rIFN-gamma Genentech, South San Francisco, CA). During the first week alpha dose was 2 X 10(6) U/m2 and the gamma dose was 0.01 mg/m2 with escalations, if clinically tolerable, during the second week to 5 X 10(6) U/m2 and 0.025 mg/m2, respectively. Twelve patients received the escalated doses; subsequent granulocytopenia and a flu-type illness were severe in four of the 12. We observed one partial response of MRI-documented and biopsy-confirmed osseous metastases for 7+ months. For all study participants, the median time to progression was 1 month with a median survival of 6 months. From the dose and schedule which we utilized, concurrent rIFN-alpha A and rIFN-gamma provided little impact on advanced malignant melanoma.