Combination Chemotherapy, Interferon Alfa, and Interleukin-2 in Treating Patients With Metastatic Melanoma

Inclusion Criteria

• •DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Histologically confirmed melanoma that is metastatic and unresectable
• •Measurable, progressive disease (by physical exam and/or noninvasive imaging)
• •* No prior irradiation of indicator lesions
• •No CNS metastases (confirmed by CT or MRI)
• •PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Age:
• •18 to 70
• •Performance status:
• •Karnofsky 60-100%
• •Life expectancy:
• •Greater than 3 months
• •Hematopoietic:
• •WBC at least 2,500/mm\^3
• •Platelet count at least 100,000/mm\^3
• •Hepatic:
• •No serious hepatic disease
• •Renal:
• •Creatinine no greater than 1.65 mg/dL
• •No serious renal disease
• •Cardiovascular:
• •No serious cardiac disease
• •Pulmonary:
• •No serious pulmonary disease
• •Other:
• •No organ allograft
• •No autoimmune disease
• •No uncontrolled infection
• •No active peptic ulcer
• •No hyper or hypothyroidism
• •No requirement for corticosteroids
• •No second malignancy except basal cell skin carcinoma or carcinoma in situ of the cervix
• •Not pregnant or nursing
• •PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• •Biologic therapy:
• •No prior immunotherapy with interleukin-2
• •No prior interferon alfa in combination with cisplatin or dacarbazine
• •Chemotherapy:
• •No prior chemotherapy with cisplatin in combination with dacarbazine
• •More than 3 months since prior chemotherapy
• •Endocrine therapy:
• •Not specified
• •Radiotherapy:
• •Prior radiotherapy allowed
• •Surgery:
• •Not specified