Improvement in disease-free survival of melanoma patients in conjunction with serologic response in a phase Ia/Ib Southeastern Cancer Study Group trial of vaccinia melanoma oncolysate.

Thirty-nine patients with malignant melanoma who were disease-free after surgery but at high risk for recurrence were treated with vaccinia melanoma oncolysate (VMO) for 12 months. Clinical results, after a mean follow-up of 17 months showed that 25 of 39 patients had no evidence of disease. Comparison of disease-free survival of patients in this study with that of 39 matched controls from other adjuvant trials shows statistically significant advantage of VMO therapy. Evaluation of serological responses of patients undergoing VMO treatment by an enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) showed a positive correlation between IgG antibody binding to cultured melanoma cells and disease-free survival.