Isolated Limb Infusion of Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Melanoma or Soft Tissue Sarcoma of the Arm or Leg That Cannot Be Removed By Surgery

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 1969-12-31
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Infusing chemotherapy to the tumor area only may kill more tumor cells and cause less damage to healthy tissues.

PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying isolated limb infusion of chemotherapy to see how well it works in treating patients with melanoma or soft tissue sarcoma of the arm or leg that cannot be removed by surgery.

• Phase: Phase 2
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Collaborator: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Treatments: Dactinomycin; Melphalan

Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically proven primary or recurrent, regional melanoma or soft tissue sarcoma that is not amenable to surgical resection

• Majority (greater than 95%) of disease must be distal to the apex of the femoral triangle in the lower limb and the deltoid insertion in the upper limb

• Bidimensionally measurable disease in the extremity

• Patients with disease beyond the limb are eligible if their extremity disease requires palliative treatment in the judgment of their physician

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

• Over 18

Performance status:

• Karnofsky 70-100%

Life expectancy:

• At least 6 months

Hematopoietic:

• WBC at least 3,000/mm^3

Hepatic:

• Not specified

Renal:

• Creatinine less than 2.0 mg/dL

Cardiovascular:

• Must have palpable femoral/axillary, dorsalis pedis/popliteal, or radial pulses in the extremity to be treated

• No signs or symptoms of vascular insufficiency (no history of claudication or other ischemic peripheral vascular disease)

Other:

• Not pregnant or nursing

• Negative pregnancy test

• No other concurrent serious illness

• No severe diabetes

• No prior extremity complications due to diabetes

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

• Not specified

Chemotherapy

• Not specified

Endocrine therapy

• Not specified

Radiotherapy

• Not specified

Surgery

• Not specified

Other

• At least 4 weeks since prior antitumor therapy and recovered

• At least 2 weeks since prior antibiotics