Metastasized Melanoma. What's The Prongnosis?

My son, an otherwise healthy male, was diagnosed with stage IV metastasized cancer six months ago.  The only major organ it has entered is the liver.  He was treated with IL-2 with mixed results.  However the tumor in the liver shrank considerably and there was minimal growth in the adrenal gland.  He's very healthy, eats well,no weight loss and the drs. said his cancer is slow growing.  We are looking at additional clinical studies.

My questions are this:  What clinical study do you think would best fit him?  And what is his prognosis given the above information?  We live in greater Boston, MA.

Thanks, Mharris 

if you go to clinicaltrials.gov and type in melanoma or metastatic melanoma you can find a lot of trials.  You can narrow it down by where you live however it can be a little complex if you are not in health care but your doc should be able to help.  There is some encouraging stuff being done with vaccines.  The prognosis for MM is not very good, so clinical trials are a good option.

Is it possible that, given that his cancer is slow growing and has not entered any of his major organs, that he could live for years?  I would like to think he can.

I have a Young patient with diffuse Metastatic Melanoma who is out 7 years.  Most recently I saw him the first time.  No clinical disease but some GI symptoms.  We were in the act of restaging and he developed bowel obstruction.  Was operated on and had the tumor resected.  PET scan after  that surgery showed no visible tumor.  He is now just being followed and is clinically normal.  Actually he is a head banger and get into alot of trouble aside from his melanoma.

As an aside, I'm curious as to what a head banger is.  Never heard of one.

Teresa (mharris) 

If you live in Boston, you should call up now and get an appointment to see Dr. Hodi at Dana Farber.  He is your local guru on metastatic melanoma.

 Good luck.

Fortunately, MGH is affiliated with Dana Farber and Beth Israel and all three hospitals are running excellent clinical studies for stage IV melanoma.  I was told the guru of melanoma was Dr. Michael Atkins at Beth Israel.  My son chose Dr. Lawrence at MGH and loves the guy.