Combined treatment of malignant melanomas of the skin with the use of preoperative intensive radiotherapy

The informativeness of the clinical, radioisotopic biochemical and lymphographic methods of examination of pigment newgrowths of the skin in comparison with histological findings is evaluated. Complex examination allowed one to make a correct diagnosis in 92.7% of the cases. The authors present the results of combined treatment with the use of macrofractional preoperative irradiation in 36 patients with primary melanomas of the skin (of them 27 were exposed to fast electrons with an energy of 6-10 MeV) and in 15 patients with secondary melanomas. The patients tolerated the treatment well, the healing of the postoperative wounds was in most of the cases uncomplicated, no local relapses were observed, a 5-year survival rate in primary melanomas was recorded in 87.7% of the cases