My mom has stage 3a melanoma. her surgical oncologist recommended high dose alphainterferon in addition to thesurgery. he said the european way of administering it is more tolerable but it takes 5 years. she is in favor of the more tolerable drug. what sh

Listen to him.: Stage iii melanoma is advanced, with palpable lymph nodes in its area. It has a 50% 5 year survival if only one node is involved and a 15-20% 5 year survival if 4 or more nodes are involved. Survival is improved with interferon-alpha. Chemotherapy and immunotherapy may also help. If treatment is done over 5 years, it may be too late. Drugs can be given for pain, etc. Get that therapy now.

This is the current: Standard treatment. There is a clinical trial comparing interferon to a new immunotherapy. Both treatments can be toxic. I think that the difficult issue in this field is the patient's age and other medical problems. Adjuvant therapy can be toxic and the payoff is marginal. It is important to have all of the questions answered before starting.

Seek a trial: The data for interferon is terrible. If it works, it barely works. Its effectiveness for melanoma has been barely measurable in studies. Referral to a nearby academic medical center which might offer newer treatments such as ipalimumab (yervoy) is what i would want for my mother.