Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were eligible for inclusion in the review.
Specific interventions included in the review
Studies were eligible for inclusion if they compared any chemotherapy or biochemotherapy regimen that included tamoxifen with another group using the same regimen without tamoxifen. Each study included in the review used a different regimen and dose. One study added tamoxifen to a single-agent regimen; the others used polychemotherapy or biochemotherapy regimens. The included agents were dacarbazine, cisplatin, vinblastine, interferon, interferon-alpha, carmustine and carboplatin. The most common dose of tamoxifen was 20 mg orally. Chemotherapy was administered continuously until disease progression.
Participants included in the review
Studies of people with clinically and histologically confirmed cutaneous malignant melanoma were eligible for inclusion. Patient eligibility criteria varied between the included studies. None of the included studies reported information on disease stage at the time of enrolment. The median age ranged from 50 to 60 years.
Outcomes assessed in the review
It appeared that in order to be eligible for the review, studies had to include data on at least one of the primary outcome measures: complete response, overall response (defined as the sum of complete plus partial response) and overall survival.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors did not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many reviewers performed the selection.