Life During Treatment

One year, many challenges

Treatment with INTRON® A asks you to make a one-year commitment. Generally, it will take one year with INTRON® A to give yourself a good chance of surviving melanoma and living longer without the disease coming back.

INTRON® A is made up of proteins that work like certain disease-fighting proteins made by your body. The medicine has to be infused or injected into your body, not swallowed. Otherwise, the acids in your stomach would treat the protein like a food and digest it, making it impossible for INTRON® A to do its job.

INTRON® A is the only drug that's been proven to improve survival in people with high-risk malignant melanoma who have already had surgery.

INTRON® A is the only drug that's been proven to increase the amount of time people survive without melanoma coming back.

4 Weeks...

The standard routine for INTRON® A starts with 4 weeks of doses at the doctor's office, 5 days a week. These first 4 weeks help your body to get used to the medication while the doctor monitors your progress closely.

...plus 48 weeks

Then, most people continue treatment with three injections each week for the next 48 weeks. With training, many people can give these shots to themselves at home, or have a friend or family member trained to do injections at home.

Life during treatment involves a lot of change and adjustment, for you and others in your household. The more you know in advance, the better you can plan. Knowing what to expect also helps many people feel more in control and able to make decisions.

Glossary

Infusion: A method of putting fluids, including drugs, into the bloodstream. Also called intravenous (IV) infusion.
Injection: Use of a syringe and needle to push fluids or drugs into the body; often called a "shot."
Malignant: Cancerous; cells that can invade and destroy nearby tissue and spread to other parts of the body.
Melanoma: A highly malignant type of skin cancer that arises in melanocytes, the cells that produce pigment. Melanoma usually begins in a mole.
Protein: A molecule made up of amino acids that are needed for the body to function properly. Proteins are the basis of body structures such as skin and hair and of substances such as enzymes, cytokines, and antibodies.