• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.43-47
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• 1987

Primary malignant melanom of the spinal cord is extremely rare. The best treatment appears to be total surgical excision, when possible and postoperative irradiation, but the value of radiotherapy is unknown because the number of cases that have been irradiated postoperatively is small. The 2-year survival rate for primary malignant melanoma of the spinal cord is usually less than $16\%$ and most patients died within 1 year. The prognosis of this tumor is poor.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.322-324
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• 2002

Herein we report a rare case of primary esophageal malignant melanoma in a 56-year-old gentleman who presented with a 2-month dysphagea. Esophagoscopy reveals a polypoid tumor and a total thoracic esophagectomy was performed through a right thoracotomy and esophageal replacement with stomach. The tumor was proven to be a primary esophageal malignant melanoma by histological and immunohistochemical studies. The pathologic stage was IIa. He received no postoperative adjuvant therapy. He died of liver metastasis at 8 months postoperatively.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.544-548
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• 1998

Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus(PMME) is an extremely rare tumor with only scattered case reports. The treatment of choice is surgical resection. However, the prognosis is poor. Recently we experienced one case of primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus in a 60-year-old male patient. Esophagectomy and intrathoracic esophagogastrostomy were perfomed. The patient was discharged without specific complications.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.245-249
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• 2003

A primary malignant melanoma of the vagina is a very rare gynecological malignant tumor. Its clinical behavior is more aggressive than that of cutaneous and vulvar melanomas. We present a case of a large sized primary melanoma of the lower third of the vagina, with a cervical lesion, in a 58-year-old postmenopausal woman. The patient was treated with conventional external radiation therapy and intracavitary radiotherapy (ICR), without surgical treatment. Although the primary lesion showed a partial response, the patient died of extensive metastases, which were found 4.5 months after the initial diagnosis. We suggest that shortening the treatment period, such as hypofractionated radiation therapy and surgical removal, and various systemic therapies for preventing early distant metastasis, are appropriate treatments for a primary malignant melanoma of the vagina, with a large tumor size.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.279-283
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• 2014

We report a case of primary gastric malignant melanoma that was diagnosed after curative resection but initially misdiagnosed as adenocarcinoma. A 68-year-old woman was referred to our department for surgery for gastric adenocarcinoma presenting as a polypoid lesion with central ulceration located in the upper body of the stomach. The preoperative diagnosis was confirmed by endoscopic biopsy. We performed laparoscopic total gastrectomy, and the final pathologic evaluation led to the diagnosis of primary gastric malignant melanoma without a primary lesion detected in the body. To the best of our knowledge, primary gastric malignant melanoma is extremely rare, and this is the first case reported in our country. According to the literature, it has aggressive biologic activity compared with adenocarcinoma, and curative resection is the only promising treatment strategy. In our case, the patient received an early diagnosis and underwent curative gastrectomy with radical lymphadenectomy, and no recurrence was noted for about two years.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.220-223
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• 2000

Mucosal melanoma of the head and neck is a rare and usually lethal disease. Primary laryngeal malignant melanoma(LMM) are exceedingly rare tumors that morphologically are readily confused with more common types of laryngeal cancer. Treatment of choice for LMM is complete surgical excision and elective lymph node dissection is usually not recommended. The use of radiation or chemotherapy is generally thought to have no effect on local or distant disease and currently used as adjuvant therapy. The prognosis is extremely poor. We have experienced a 61 year old male patient with symptoms of foreign body and lump sense in throat. A dark pigmented polypoid mass was found on the right aryepiglottic folds with normal mobility of vocal cord. Total laryngectomy was performed under the diagnosis of malignant melanoma. Bone scan revealed multiple bony metastasis on ribs and lumbar vertebrae after 5 months of operation. There have been no evidence of recurrence at primary area. The patient died after 8 months of operation.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.389-395
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• 2000

Arare case of primary malignant melanoma of central nervous system in 12-month-old infant with neuro-cutaneous melanosis is presented. Primary malignant melanomas in central nervous system are very rare in children, however, it is known that leptomeningeal melanosis is malignant in 40-50% with neurocutaneous melanosis. Spinal MRI, brain CT and MRI showed diffuse intradural extramedullary mass of entire spinal cord and enhancing mass in brain stem. CSF cytology revealed abnormal cells. Biopsy from leptomeninges of posterior fossa was compatible with malignant melanoma.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.78 no.3
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• pp.272-275
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• 2015

Malignant melanoma occurs most frequently on the skin. However, it can also arise in other organs and tissues of the body. Primary pulmonary malignant melanoma is a very rare non-epithelial neoplasm accounting for 0.01% of all primary pulmonary tumors. The treatment of choice is surgical resection of the tumor with an oncologically adequate margin as in lobectomy or pneumonectomy. The prognosis of this condition is rather poor. Based on previous data, its 5-year survival is at least 10%. Here, we report a case of an 82-year-old woman whose primary pulmonary melanoma was detected incidentally.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.299-305
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• 2009

Purpose: Recently, the incidence of malignant melanoma has been steadily increasing. Malignant melanoma is already known to have poorer prognosis than other primary skin cancers. Despite the poor prognosis, it is relatively less known to the public so that a number of patients visit hospital carrying advanced stage tumor. Yet, extensive study about malignant melanoma is currently insufficient, and specific guidelines and statistical figures in Korea are almost inexistent. Therefore, authors reviewed patients with malignant melanoma who have visited our hospital for last 14 years. Methods: Between January 1994 and January 2008, 62 patients were diagnosed with malignant melanoma at our hospital. A retrospective study was performed with data from patients' charts and biopsy results. Annual incidence, mean age of onset, gender, tumor location, tumor thickness, pathologic ulceration, clinicopathologic subtype, and clinical AJCC stage were evaluated. Analysis of factors associated with survival were performed using the Cox proportional hazard model. Kaplan - Meier method was used to generate survival curves. Results: Clinicopathologic features of 62 patients (32 male, 30 female) with average age of 57 years were evaluated. Most lesions were found in lower limb, and the most common subtype was acral lentiginous melanoma. We could also find that age, tumor thickness, and clinical stage were the only significant prognostic factors. Conclusion: Clinicopathologic features of malignant melanoma were analyzed in this study, but the result is not ready to be generalized because the number of cases is too small. Further study must be performed to report clinical guidelines for prognosis and treatment for malignant melanoma patients in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.39-42
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• 2007

Primary intracranial melanoma is uncommon. These tumors most commonly occur at the temporal lobe, cerebellum and cerebellopontine angle. We report a case of intracranial malignant melanoma of the occipital lobe in a 60-year-old man who presented with headache and visual disturbance. The mass showed hyperintensity on T1-weighted images and hypointensity on T2-weighted magnetic resonance images. He underwent gross total removal of tumor and received radiotherapy. Follow-up imaging studios showed neither recurrence nor any signs of residual disease for 4 months.