Procarbazine, vinblastine, and actinomycin D in stage III and IV melanoma with or without methanol-extracted residue of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin.

Patients with stage III and IV melanoma were randomly assigned to receive procarbazine (100 mg/m2, Days 1--10), vinblastine (5 mg/m2, Days 1 and 8), and actinomycin D (0.5 mg/m2, Days 1 and 8) with or without methanol-extracted residue (MER) of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (200 micrograms in five sites). In patients with measurable disease, 20% (eight of 40 patients) responded with only the combination chemotherapy while 15% (six of 39 patients) responded with the MER added. Toxicity was tolerable except for some instances of severe, gastrointestinal toxicity associated with procarbazine. MER as given in this study, failed to either increase the response rate or prolong survival.