dacarbazine + interferon alpha

Dacarbazine + interferon alpha is a combination chemoimmunotherapy regimen historically utilized in the treatment of advanced-stage metastatic malignant melanoma. Dacarbazine, a small-molecule alkylating agent, functions as a prodrug that is activated in the liver to form MTIC, which alkylates DNA at the O6 and N7 positions of guanine, leading to DNA strand breaks and apoptosis. Interferon alpha is a recombinant cytokine that binds to the IFNAR1/IFNAR2 receptor complex, triggering the JAK-STAT signaling pathway to induce an antiviral and antiproliferative state, while also enhancing the activity of natural killer (NK) cells and CD8+ T cells. In the Phase II NCT00911443 trial sponsored by sigma-tau (Leadiant Biosciences), this combination was used as an active comparator to evaluate the efficacy of adding thymosin alpha 1 (Zadaxin) to the regimen.

Other names

dacarbazine and interferon alphaDTIC + aIFN