Eleven years' experience with hyperthermic perfusion for melanoma of the extremities

Abstract
Since 1967, we have used a system of hyperthermic perfusion with melphalan to treat patients with melanoma of the extremities. This report presents additional follow‐up data on 165 patients, first reported on in 1975, who underwent 185 perfusions. The 70 patients classified as stage I (Stehlin classification system) had a 5‐year survival rate of 86.3%. The 5‐year survival rate for the 73 patients with stage II and stage III disease was 52.5%. There was a dramatic increase in the 5‐year survival rate for patients with stage IIIA disease, from 22.2% prior to the use of heat to 74% for 30 patients undergoing hyperthermic perfusion.