A phase II study of tamoxifen combined with cisplatin-interleukin 2 and alpha-interferon in metastatic melanoma

Tamoxifen (TAM) has been reported to enhance cisplatin (CDDP) cytotoxicity in experimental and clinical melanoma studies. Based on our previous experience with sequential cisplatin-interleukin-2 (IL2)-interferon (IFN), we performed a phase II study of TAM combined with our original CDDP-IL2-IFN regimen in 22 pretreated metastatic melanoma patients. With a 41% response rate (95% Cl, 21-61) we confirmed the interesting antitumor activity of CDDP-IL2-IFN combination; however, TAM enhanced neither the response rate nor the duration of response, but appeared to induce significantly more myelotoxicity, as compared to our previous results with CDDP-IL2-IFN alone. Whereas mechanisms by which TAM may modulate CDDP cytotoxicity in melanoma tumors remain unknown, the exact place of TAM, if any, and its safety in chemotherapeutic or chemoimmunotherapeutic combinations require further investigations.