Chemotherapy for advanced melanoma

Chemotherapy is the use of anti-cancer (cytotoxic) drugs to destroy cancer cells. It is not often used to treat melanoma. Your doctor may recommend having chemotherapy, if immunotherapy and targeted therapies are no longer working for you.

Chemotherapy may help control or slow the growth of advanced melanoma for a time. Your cancer doctor and specialist nurse will explain more about the possible benefits and side effects.

There are different chemotherapy drugs that may be used to treat advanced melanoma. They include:

• dacarbazine (DTIC)
• temozolomide
• carboplatin.

You may have only 1 drug, or a combination.

Chemotherapy drugs may cause unpleasant side effects. Side effects can usually be well controlled with medicines. They usually go away once treatment has finished. Your doctor and nurse will tell you about the likely side effects and how they can be managed.

We have more information about the side effects of chemotherapy.

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