Primary malignant melanoma of the male urethra

BACKGROUND: We describe a rare case of malignant melanoma originating from the male urethra. METHODS/RESULTS: This case, which presented a tan-colored lesion at the distal urethra on urethroscopy, was considered as transitional cell carcinoma by transurethral biopsy. Pathologic examination of widely resected urethra revealed scattering cells, which included melanin granules in cytoplasm, and then immunohistochemical stains established the diagnosis as amelanotic melanoma. Although partial penectomy and inguinal lymph node dissection were subsequently performed, 7 months later, total cystourethrectomy was required because of multifocal recurrence at the residual urethra. CONCLUSIONS: In cases of amelanotic melanoma, it should be noted that a lack of melanin granules in tumor cells may lead pathologists and urologists to a misdiagnosis due to the histologic non-specific appearance. With respect to surgical management, of significance is the fact that malignant melanoma may progress multifocally along the total urethra; therefore, total urethrectomy should be considered as radical surgery for the primary site, even if the tumor is confined to the distal urethra.     

Primary amelanotic malignant melanoma of the female urethra

The case is reported of amelanotic malignant melanoma of the female urethra mimicking urethral caruncle. A 75-year-old woman complained of a mass of the external meatus. Urethral carunclectomy was performed, but histological diagnosis was amelanotic malignant melanoma. Finally, she underwent en block resection of urethra including bladder neck, uterus, adnexa, vagina, and vulva. As urinary diversion, she underwent a continent cathererizable stoma with an appendicovesicostomy, according to the method described by Mitrofanoff, and Y-V graft for reconstruction of the vulva.     

Amelanotic subungual melanoma mimicking pyogenic granuloma in the hand

Between six and eight per cent of cases of malignant melanoma lack pigmentation on macroscopic examination, making accurate early diagnosis difficult. Delays in diagnosis and misdiagnosis are common in cases of subungual melanoma. We report a patient with an amelanotic subungual malignant melanoma who presented with a lesion that closely resembled a pyogenic granuloma. Since amelanotic melanoma usually presents as a vascular or ulcerating nodule, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a wide range of superficial lesions that occur in the hand.     

Primary malignant melanoma of the female urethra

We report here on a rare case of primary malignant melanoma of the female urethra. A 69-year-old female presented at our hospital with a several month history of dysuria, poor stream, gross hematuria, intermittent blood spots, and a painful mass at the external urethral meatus. The physical examination revealed a soft, small, chestnut-sized lesion through the urethral orifice. The mass was tan colored, ulcerated, covered with necrotic tissue, and protruded from the external urethral meatus. The mass was removed by wide local excision under spinal anesthesia. The pathological diagnosis was malignant melanoma of the urethra. Computed tomography of the abdomen as well as a whole-body bone scan showed no evidence of metastasis. The patient has been free of disease for 6 months postoperatively. We discuss the clinicopathologic features and treatment of this tumor.     

Primary amelanotic anorectal melanoma--a case report

BACKGROUND: The amelanotic melanoma of the rectal mucosa is very rare with an unfavourable prognosis. The surgical approach is still discussed controversially. Therefore transrectal ultrasound is of major importance in the preoperative staging and postoperative follow-up especially in diagnosis of local recurrence by using the ultrasound-guided, transrectal aspiration. METHODS: In literature 5 cases of amelanotic malignant melanoma were reported. The overall survival time is 10 months after diagnosis. All patients were female. RESULTS: We report about a 55-year-old female patient with an amelanotic melanoma of rectal mucosa. 7 months after a wide local excision of the tumour and interferon therapy in case of the absence of pararectal, inguinal metastases and other metastases the patient developed pararectal metastasis. An abdominoperineal resection and resection of inguinal lymph nodes was performed. Two months later paraaortal lymph nodes were detected. We started chemotherapy with Dacarbazin and with regard of the tumour progress the chemotherapy was changed to Vindesin 25 months after first operation supported by a radiotherapy with 40 Gray. The patient died 36 months after diagnosis. CONCLUSION: The prognosis of primary malignant anorectal melanoma is poor, irrespective of surgical treatment. Wide local resection is the first choice for primary anorectal melanoma. Abdominoperineal resection should be reserved for cases were complete tumour resection is impossible. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy should be considered in the treatment of anorectal melanoma to influence the overall survival.     

The curious incident of 3 melanomas and their possible origins—A case report and review of literature

BackgroundWe describe an unusual case of 2 intra-parenchymal breast melanomas with a concomitant subcutaneous melanoma in the ipsilateral upper limb and no definite primary lesion.Case reportOur patient is a 40-year-old Chinese female who presented with a breast lump in her left breast for which excision biopsy showed melanoma. A PET-CT revealed a second lesion in her breast. A left upper arm nodule with no overlying skin changes was also noted. She underwent a mastectomy and excision biopsy of the upper arm nodule. Histology showed that the second breast lesion was also a melanoma, while the arm nodule contained melanoma cells within a fibrous capsule.ConclusionThe presence of a melanoma in the breast should prompt a close and meticulous search for a primary lesion and potential signs of metastasis. Encapsulated subcutaneous nodules can be attributed to replaced lymph nodes or subcutaneous melanoma which can be either primary dermal melanoma or metastasis from an unknown primary.     

Primary malignant melanoma of the female urethra: Report of a rare neoplasm of the urinary tract

IntroductionMelanoma is a malignant tumor that can affect any area of the anatomical economy. Its occurance in the female urethra is extremely rare. We report a case of primary malignant urethral melanoma developed in an elderly female patient.Presentation of caseA 70 years old female presented with dysuria, poor stream, gross haematuria, intermittent blood spots, and a painful mass. On physical examination, there were no suspicious lesions on the skin. On external genital examination, a lesion at the level of the urethral meatus was observed. The mass was removed by wide local excision under spinal anaesthesia. The pathological diagnosis was malignant melanoma of the urethra.DiscussionThe common presentations include bleeding and/or discharge per urethra, voiding dysfunction and the presence of tumor mass. Survival depends on the stage, location and size of the neoplasm at the time of diagnosis. Despite major surgery, radiotherapy or immunotherapy; malignant melanoma usually has a poor prognosis.ConclusionMelanoma of the female urethra is an extremely uncommon pathology leading to paucity of literature and any definite recommendations regarding management. The histological and immunohistochemical findings can be helpful in making an early and accurate diagnosis of malignant melanoma in the urogenital region.     

Primary malignant melanoma of the female urethra. Report of a case

Primary malignant melanoma of the female urethra is a rare tumour with great agressivity and poor prognosis. An early diagnosis may benefit of radical surgery and adjuvant immunotherapy with curative effect. We present a sixty-five years old female with a malignant melanoma of urethra and a secondary additional melanoma in vulva, that was treated with both radical ureterectomy and vulvectomy. A bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy and immunotherapy with alpha-interferon were added. The patient is free of disease one year postoperatively.     

Primary malignant melanoma of the female urethra: a case report

A 72-year-old female with a complaint of hemorrhagic leucorrhea was referred to our department. She had a black tumor on her urethral meatus suspected as a malignant melanoma. Urethrectomy, vulvectomy, partial vaginectomy, bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy, and cystostomy were performed. Pathological diagnosis was malignant melanoma of the urethra. Local recurrence and lymph node metastasis were found 9 months later, and she has been given DAV-feron combined therapy.     

Malignant melanomas of female urethra

Primary melanoma of the female urethra is extremely rare. Treatment by surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy has been uniformly ineffective. We herein report on 2 patients with primary malignant melanoma of the urethra treated with immunotherapy and chemotherapy. The first patient died four years after the initial diagnosis, and the second died after two years. Chemo-immunotherapy may be considered as an additional, palliative form of treatment in the management of primary melanoma of the female urethra, but cystourethrectomy should be the initial form of treatment.     

原发性女性尿道黑色素瘤(附4例报告)

目的　探讨女性尿道原发性恶性黑色素瘤的临床特征及治疗方法。方法　对4例女性原发性恶性黑色素瘤进行临床病理分析及随访观察。结果　4例患者均为尿道外口肿物就诊。2例因术前诊断不清,仅作局部切除,其中 1 例术后 16 个月死于肿瘤复发,1例仍在随访中;另2例行全尿道切除,双侧腹股沟淋巴结清扫及永久性膀胱造瘘。结论　女性尿道原发性黑色素瘤恶性度高,临床易误诊,早期诊断的主要依据是病理学探查,及时规范手术是提高患者生存率的主要方法。     

Oral malignant melanoma detected after resection of amelanotic pulmonary metastasis

INTRODUCTIONSolitary pulmonary metastasis from oral malignant melanoma is very rare.PRESENTATION OF CASEWe demonstrated a 84-year-old patient with a lung nodule that was diagnosed as malignant melanoma by video-assisted thoracoscopic resection. Because primary pulmonary malignant melanoma was extremely rare, the tumor was thought to be a metastasized from an occult primary lesion. A detailed physical examination revealed a black tumor in the oral cavity, and this was suspected to have been the primary. Resection of the hard palate tumor and dissection of the cervical lymph nodes were performed. The patient was simply followed up without further therapy at his request, and he died one year after surgery due to bleeding from a pleural metastasis of malignant melanoma.DISCUSSIONPrimary melanoma of the oral cavity is rare, accounts for 0.5% of all oral cancers, and 0.8–1.8% of all melanomas. Because of absence of symptoms in the early stage of the disease and the presence of the tumor in relatively obscure areas of the oral cavity, the diagnosis is unfortunately often delayed. In view of the rarity of primary lung melanoma, when lung tumor was diagnosed as malignant melanoma, detailed physical examination of the entire skin and mucosa including the oral cavity was necessary.CONCLUSIONOral malignant melanoma was very rare, but oral cavity should be examined when the pulmonary nodule was diagnosed as malignant melanoma.     

Clinical presentation of pedunculated, amelanotic melanoma: plantar aspect

An historical review and case history of amelanotic malignant melanoma presenting as a pedunculated mass on the plantar aspect of the foot is discussed. The patient presented with a rapidly growing, cauliflower-like lesion on the plantar aspect of the left foot. Excisional biopsy revealed amelanotic malignancy. Subsequent surgical intervention was performed to effect a radical excision of local tissues with grafting and inguinal lymphadenectomy.     

Primary malignant melanoma of the urethra: a clinicopathologic analysis of 15 cases

The clinical and pathologic features of 15 primary urethral melanomas occurring in patients (nine women and six men) age 44 to 96 years (mean age, 73 yrs) are described. In the men the tumor involved the distal urethra. In eight women it involved the distal urethra, usually the meatus; both the distal and proximal urethra were involved in one woman. The tumors were typically polypoid and ranged from 0.8 to 6 cm (mean, 2.6 cm) in maximum dimension. A vertical growth phase was present in all tumors, with a prominent nodular component in seven of them. A radial growth phase was seen in nine tumors. The depth of invasion ranged from 2 to 17 mm. The tumors had diffuse, nested, storiform, or mixed growth patterns. The neoplastic cells typically had abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm, large nuclei with prominent nucleoli, and brisk mitotic activity. Melanin pigment was seen in 12 tumors but was conspicuous in only six. At the time of diagnosis, 13 tumors were confined to the urethra and two patients had lymph node metastasis. Nine patients died of disease 13 to 56 months after initial diagnosis and treatment, and one patient had a local recurrence at 4 years and subsequently died of sepsis 1 year later. Three patients were alive and well at 11 months, 23 months, and 7 years. One patient died at the time of the initial operation, and one died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm at 3 years without evidence of melanoma at autopsy. Primary malignant melanomas of the urethra, one fifth of which are amelanotic, must be included in the differential diagnosis of a number of primary neoplasms that involve the urethra, including transitional cell carcinoma, sarcomatoid carcinoma, and sarcomas. Conventional prognostic factors, such as depth of invasion or tumor stage, do not seem to play as important a role in predicting survival as the mucosal location and the nodular growth present frequently in these tumors.     

Choriocarcinoma of the lung: report of a case

In this report, a 27-year-old woman with a solitary pulmonary nodule is described. Because computed tomography-guided biopsy could not confirm the diagnosis, surgical treatment was performed by video-assisted thoracic surgery. Histological findings showed cytotrophoblasts and syncytiotrophoblasts, suggesting choriocarcinoma. However, there were no abnormal findings on gynecological examination, including ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging, and positron-emission tomography. Choriocarcinoma is a malignant neoplasm and can arise after a pregnancy, as a component of germ cell tumors, or in association with a poorly differentiated somatic carcinoma. Our patient, a young female with an antecedent gestation, has no recurrence after surgery. There were tumor emboli in pulmonary arteries and no component of primary lung carcinoma on histological examination. These findings indicate that the lesion was a metastasis of gestational choriocarcinoma. A rare case of a patient with metastatic gestational choriocarcinoma of a solitary pulmonary nodule without any uterine abnormality is presented.     

女性尿道原发性恶性黑色素瘤3例报告

目的：探讨女性尿道原发性恶性黑色素瘤的临床特征及治疗手段。方法：对3例女性原发性尿道恶性黑色素瘤进行临床病理分析及随访观察。结果：3例均以尿道外口包块就诊。2例因术前诊断不清，仅局部切除，其中1例术后半年死于肿瘤复发。1例正在随访中；1例行全尿道切除，双侧腹股沟淋巴结清扫及永久性膀胱造瘘。结论：女性尿道原发性恶性黑色素瘤恶性度高，临床易误诊，早期确诊的主要依据是病理学检查，及时规范手术是提高患者生存率的主要手段。     

Primary malignant melanoma of the rectum: Report of a case

We describe herein a rare case of primary malignant melanoma of the rectum in an 85-year-old woman. The patient presented with intermittent rectal bleeding, and a colonoscopy revealed an ulcerated polypoid mass in the rectum, located 5 cm from the anal verge. The lesion was histologically characterized by solid growths of small round cells with scanty cytoplasm and prominent nucleoli. Although no melanin pigment was found in the tumor cells, they were immunohistochemically positive for HMB-45, a monoclonal antibody highly specific for malignant melanoma. Thus, HMB-45 proved very useful to establish a diagnosis of amelanotic malignant melanoma of the rectum.     

Desmoplastic melanoma

Desmoplastic melanoma is an uncommonly encountered variant of malignant melanoma. Three histological subtypes exist: desmoplastic, neurotropic, and neural transforming. Desmoplastic melanoma commonly presents in conjunction with existing melanocytic lesions or as an amelanotic firm nodule. Local recurrences are common. Thirty patients over a 6-year period were treated at our institution for desmoplastic melanoma. All lesions were treated with local excision. Local recurrence occurred in seven patients (23%) and was treated by aggressive re-excision in each instance. Clinical regional metastasis (lymph nodal basins) were detected in two patients (6%). Distant metastasis (lung) developed in two patients (6%). Twenty-three patients (76%) were found to have desmoplastic subtype, whereas five (17%) had neurotropic subtype. Six patients (20%) had associated pigmented melanotic lesions. Average length of follow-up has been 18 months. Overall survival is 96 per cent. Presentations and histologic diagnosis can sometimes be difficult and misleading. Treatment is aggressive local excision with follow-up necessary to detect resectable recurrent lesions.     

A first reported case of metastatic anorectal amelanotic melanoma with a marked response to anti-PD-1 antibody nivolumab: A case report

IntroductionAnorectal amelanotic melanoma (AAMM) is a rare disease with poor prognosis. A standard treatment strategy for AAMM has not been established.Presentation of caseWe report a case of successful treatment of AAMM with nivolumab. A 67-year-old man was referred for colonoscopy which revealed type I tumor in the rectum. AAMM was diagnosed with immunostaining histopathological biopsy findings. Enhanced computed tomography (ECT) revealed the rectal tumor without distant organ metastasis. We performed laparoscopy-assisted abdominoperineal resection. ECT at three months after surgery revealed liver metastases and right ischial bone metastasis. Although we had started dacarbazine monotherapy, black spots that were suspicious of skin metastases had appeared on systemic skin. Therefore, we started nivolumab therapy. ECT at 3 months after initiation of nivolumab showed shrinkage of liver metastasis. We have continued strict follow-up every 2 months and checked no oncologic progression at 17 months after initiation of nivolumab.DiscussionThe anti-PD-1 antibody have improved prognosis of malignant melanoma. However, there are no reports of nivolumab for treatment of AAMM.ConclusionsOur patient is the first reported case of AAMM treated with nivolumab. We consider that nivolumab will be effective for non-cutaneous malignant melanoma.     

Primary mucosal malignant melanoma of the oral cavity

Mucosal malignant melanoma arising from the head and neck region is a rare entity, and it is more aggressive than cutaneous melanoma. Furthermore, the complex anatomy of the oral cavity makes complete surgical excision difficult. Thus, early diagnosis and treatment of a mucosal lesion are important. In this study, three mucosal malignant melanoma cases and the literature have been reviewed. Three cases who presented with a primary malignant melanoma of the oral cavity have been retrospectively analyzed. All three patients were female with a mean age of 31.3 years, and the median follow-up period was 18.6 (6–36) months. The tumor was located on the maxillary gingiva in case 1 and in the hard palate–maxillary gingiva in cases 2 and 3. Case 2 had a distant metastasis during first admission. The tumor was excised with a 2-cm surgical margin in all cases. Case 2 received adjuvant chemotherapy. During the follow-up period, case 1 had a cervical lymphadenopathy 8 months after the first operation, so she underwent cervical lymph node dissection then received chemotherapy. Melanoma of the oral cavity is very rare with an extremely poor prognosis. As some melanomas may be amelanotic, a high index of suspicion is necessary. A biopsy should be taken from any suspicious lesion in the oral cavity. Surgical excision combined with adjuvant therapy is the main treatment approach for these cases. Prognosis of the disease depends on early diagnosis and treatment. A multicenter prospective study is required to introduce staging of the disease and the optimal treatment regimen.