Man on mend after Vic brawl stabbing

A man stabbed during a brawl with up to 10 youths in Melbourne's southeast is on the mend in hospital.

The 18-year-old man had been in a verbal altercation with a youth on Fifth Avenue in Aspendale about 1am on Friday before a fight involving several youths erupted.

An unidentified male youth stabbed the victim "multiple times" before he fled, police say.

His friends started driving him to hospital but flagged down paramedics on Frankston Freeway, who treated the teen for upper body injuries before taking him to The Alfred hospital.

His condition has since been downgraded from serious to stable.

Police questioned an 18-year-old Mentone man over the stabbing but he has since been released pending further inquiries.