Prospective study of clinical characteristics of melanoma patients with retinopathy caused by a high-dose interferon α-2b.

ABSTRACT: Retinopathy is a rare side effect of interferon α-2b treatment. The goal of this study was to prospectively investigate the clinical characteristics of Chinese patients with melanomas who developed retinopathy following high doses of interferon α-2b (HD-IFN) therapy. The study included 56 melanoma stage I-III patients that were treated with HD-IFN. Fourty-three patients developed HD-IFN-induced retinopathies. Forty-three melanoma patients (76%) developed retinopathy after being treated with HD-IFN. Among these patients, 49% had cotton-wool spots, 19% had retinal hemorrhage, and 30% had retinal hemorrhage. The median time of occurrence of retinopathy was 4 weeks after treatment, and the median time of duration was 4 weeks. No patient showed other symptoms except one who had blurred vision.

SUBMITTER: Lan S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8568323 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature