[DTIC in malignant melanoma: a perspective (author's transl)].

Effective therapy of malignant melanoma is still problematic. A variety of chemotherapeutic agents has proved to be ineffective in this tumour. The most extensively used chemotherapeutic agent for treatment of melanoma is DTIC (dimethyl-triaceno-imidazol-carboxamide). The objective response rate in monotherapy schedules has been reported to be up to 25%. Combination therapy with other cytostatic agents did not improve the results of DTIC alone. Experimental studies and clinical investigations have demonstrated that chemotherapy can be combined successfully with immunotherapy by potentiating the effect of tumour elimination. A review of the clinical studies with DTIC in malignant melanoma is presented.