Primary gastric melanoma presenting as a nonhealing ulcer

Metastatic Gastric Mucosal Melanoma: A Rare Case Presenting With Diffuse Gastric Polyposis

We report a 66-year-old Chinese lady who presented with a three-month history of postprandial vomiting, early satiety, anorexia and weight loss, and significant physical findings of hepatomegaly and ascites. Gastroscopy revealed gastric polyposis with both hyperpigmented and unpigmented lesions over the gastric fundus, body, and proximal antrum, biopsies of which yielded malignant melanoma histologically. Cross-sectional imaging with CT also demonstrated extensive hepatic and bony metastases. No cutaneous or ocular primary was detected. She was treated with a combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab but developed interval progression of hepatic metastases after two cycles of immunotherapy. The patient eventually succumbed two months after diagnosis.

Primary gastric melanoma in adult population: a systematic review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Primary gastric melanoma (PGM) is a rare malignant tumour of the stomach with poor prognosis. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the available literature on this entity and to highlight its biological behaviour and preferred treatment approach.

METHODS

PubMed and Cochrane bibliographical databases were independently searched (last search: 2 February 2020) by two investigators for articles reporting on PGM in the adult population.

RESULTS

Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria and concerned collectively 25 patients (18 males and seven females) with an age of 63.4 ± 8.97 years (mean ± standard deviation). Main symptoms included abdominal pain (64%), weight loss (48%) and hematemesis or melena (32%). The most frequent tumour location was the body of the stomach (54.2%). All tumours were surgically resected and the majority of the patients had a partial gastrectomy (52%). Median recurrence time was 5 months and 12% of patients reached 5-year survival landmark.

CONCLUSION

PGM is a rare disease characterized by an aggressive malignant behaviour. Its differential diagnosis from a metastatic lesion is crucial. A prompt diagnosis and therapeutic approach are needed. Further studies are required to elucidate the optimal management of this clinical entity.

The challenge of primary gastric melanoma: a systematic review

AIM

Primary gastric melanoma is a rare clinical presentation. The purpose of this review was to compare the 1-year survival in patients who underwent surgery with patients who did not receive treatment.

PATIENTS & METHODS

A systematic search of databases for case reports and case series of primary gastric melanoma was conducted.

RESULTS

The mean survival of patients was 22 months. One-year survival was 56.5% with surgery, rising to 66% with adjuvant therapy. Mean survival of the surgical group was 21.05 months (±20.2) versus 4.5 months (±3.61) in the nonsurgical group.

CONCLUSION

Primary gastric melanoma has a poor prognosis but early surgical intervention can have a significant impact on patient outcome. We reviewed the biology and clinical diagnosis of gastrointestinal melanoma and the current management options available.

A Case of Primary Melanoma of the Transverse Colon

Melanoma is among the most prevalent neoplasms diagnosed annually with the vast majority arising from a cutaneous origin. Though there are described metastases to the gastrointestinal tract, there are only rare descriptions of primary gastrointestinal melanoma. Both diagnosis and management of this unique population can be challenging given the infrequency with which it occurs. To follow is the third reported case of transverse colon primary melanoma with a description of multimodality treatment with surgery, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy.

Primary gastric melanoma: case report of a rare malignancy

We report the case of a 64-year-old white male who presented to his primary care physician with complaints of fatigue. Physical exam was unremarkable and laboratory studies revealed profound anemia, for which the patient received a transfusion. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed a bleeding mass in the proximal stomach that was histologically determined to be malignant melanoma, with immunohistochemical staining demonstrating positivity for SOX10, S100, MART-1, and HMG-45. After an extensive dermatological exam no other primary lesion was identified. Whole body positron emission tomography (18-FDG-PET/CT) demonstrated pathologic uptake only in the area of the proximal stomach. For this reason, primary gastric melanoma was suspected in this patient. The patient underwent subtotal gastrectomy with mass excision followed by Roux-en-Y reconstruction. Very few cases of primary gastric melanoma have been reported. We report this case and present diagnostic criteria for primary non-cutaneous melanoma and discuss potential non-surgical therapies.

Primary gastric malignant melanoma mimicking adenocarcinoma

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.

[Primary digestive melanomas: is there any consensus?]

In clinical practice and the literature, malignant melanoma usually appears in typical sites where melanocytes can be found: skin, eyes meninges and anal region. Malignant melanomas of the esophagus-gastrointestinal (EGI) tract are usually metastatic. Primary and diffuse EGI tract melanoma is rare and only a few descriptions of this presentation have been found in the literature. The prognosis of EGI tract melanoma is frightening because of late diagnosis and high malignancy potential. Treatment is based essentially on surgery. The objective of the present study is to specify the clinical and therapeutic aspects of primary digestive melanoma.

Mucosal melanomas in the elderly: challenging cases and review of the literature

Melanomas are malignant tumors that originate from melanocytes. They are most frequently localized in the skin, but 5% of all melanomas interest also extracutaneous sites as mucosal surfaces, parenchymatous organs, the retroperitoneum area, and the ocular ball. The purpose of this study was to investigate the epidemiologic and morphologic data of mucosal melanomas diagnosed at Emergency City Hospital (Timisoara, Romania) during a period of 12 years. The study included 17 cases of extracutaneous, extraocular melanomas, with 16 primary melanomas and one secondary melanoma. All our patients were older than 53 years and were mostly men. Most of the patients presented with localized disease; only one case had regional lymph node metastases, and another one had systemic metastases at the time of diagnosis. Regarding localization, nine of 16 melanomas were in the head and neck region, six were diagnosed in the gastrointestinal and urogenital tracts (three cases each), and one case had a rare localization (retroperitoneum). The most common histologic type was represented by epithelioid cells, and the majority of the tumors were achromic. Mucosal melanoma is a tumor associated with aging, all our patients being older than 53 years. Because of unspecific symptoms and low incidence, the diagnosis is often delayed and requires teamwork among the clinician, pathologist, radiologist, and oncologist. Different genetic fingerprints impose a correct diagnosis to offer the patient the best novel, personalized therapy.

Palliative radiation therapy for primary gastric melanoma

INTRODUCTION

Primary gastric melanoma is an exceedingly rare cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (GI bleeding). Prior reports of primary gastric melanoma have mostly been treated with surgery with utilization of radiation therapy being unreported. Radiation therapy has been used to palliate bleeding of other cancers including lung, bladder, cervix, and more recently primary gastric cancers.

CASE PRESENTATION

This case documents an 87-year-old male who presented with fatigue and melena, and was found to have severe anemia. Endoscopy with biopsy revealed an isolated focus of melanoma. After discharge, he presented two days later and was found to have continued bleeding. Because he was deemed a poor surgical candidate he elected to undergo palliative radiation therapy for bleeding control.

DISCUSSION

The diagnosis of primary verses metastatic melanoma is a topic of debate. Case reports of patients with no known extra-gastric primary have undergone surgical treatment with varying outcomes. Patients with metastatic gastric melanoma have relied on chemotherapy and radiation in addition to surgery, with radiation being used in the palliative setting. The use of radiation to control bleeding in other cancers including primary gastric adenocarcinoma has been previously studied. This case documents the utilization of radiation therapy in bleeding due to primary gastric melanoma.

CONCLUSIONS

Radiation therapy can provide adequate bleeding palliation in patients with primary gastric melanoma.

Melanoma of stomach

INTRODUCTION

Melanoma of gastrointestinal tract can be either primary or secondary to metastases from other sites like skin, mucous membranes, and uvea. Primary gastrointestinal melanoma is rare and still rarer is stomach involvement.

CASE REPORT

We report a case of primary malignant melanoma of stomach in a 50-year-old female who presented with an axillary lymphadenopathy.

CONCLUSION

Melanoma of stomach is rare. It has characteristic endoscopic appearance. Differentiation of primary from secondary melanoma is possible on clinical behavior and histological characteristics.

Primary malignant melanoma of the stomach: report of a case

We report a case of primary malignant melanoma (MM) of the stomach. The patient, a 73-year-old man, was referred to our hospital for investigation of an elevated lesion in the stomach, detected by gastroscopy. On admission, physical examinations and laboratory data were unremarkable. Gastroscopy revealed a pigmented, elevated tumor, approximately 2 cm in diameter, in the posterior wall of the stomach. A biopsy was taken, which resulted in a diagnosis of MM, based on the presence of melanin in tumor cells. F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography showed no accumulation of tracer except for the tumor in the stomach, indicating that it was a primary MM of the stomach. The patient underwent distal gastrectomy, but died of recurrence 1 year later. Very few cases of primary MM of the stomach have been reported. Thus, we report this case, followed by a review of the literature.

Case report: primary gastric melanoma in a patient with dermatomyositis

We present the first reported case of a patient with dermatomyositis found to have primary gastric melanoma. The possibility of primary gastric melanoma occurring before, concurrently or after the onset of dermatomyositis is the subject of this case report.

Primary gastric melanoma: A case report

Melanoma accounts for 1-3 per cent of all malignant tumors. Except cutaneous, other less common melanomas include, among others, those in the GI tract. However, their primary or secondary nature is often difficult to establish. Referring to the stomach, scattered cases of primary melanomas have been reported in the literature.

We report a case of a man with an ulcerated sub-mucosal mass at the antrum of the stomach, manifested with dull upper abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and anemia. This lesion was histologically proved to be melanoma. A detailed clinical and laboratory investigation revealed no primary site elsewhere.

To our knowledge, very few cases of primary gastric melanoma have been reported. Our case is the fourth ever published and the first located at the antrum of the stomach. The debate upon the primitive nature of such lesions still persists. Thus, specific diagnostic criteria have been proposed.

Primary malignant melanoma of the stomach

We report a 54-year-old patient with a complaint of weakness, abdominal pain and weight loss. During the clinical examination a palpable tumor resistance in the abdomen was found as well as iron deficiency anemia. Gastroscopy showed an exulcerated, dark brown, fungiform tumor about 4 cm in diameter at the great curve of stomach. Endoscopic biopsy revealed the diagnosis of malignant melanoma by demonstrating the presence of melanin containing tumor cells in gastric mucosa. The patient underwent subtotal gastrectomy, appendectomy and splenectomy. The diagnosis of gastric melanoma with regional lymph node metastases, as well as metastases in appendix adjacent tissue was confirmed by histology and immunohistochemistry. In three years follow up period patient developed cerebral and retroauricular subcutaneous metastases that were treated by surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Finally, an explorative laparatomy was revealed advanced intraabdominal tumor dissemination with dark pigmented ascites. Concerning that all available diagnostic procedures failed to prove other site of melanoma, presented case was considered as primary gastric melanoma as a possible rare site of tumor.

Unusual clinical course of metachronous melanomas of the upper digestive system

Melanoma of the gastrointestinal tract is a rare, highly malignant neoplasm of poor prognosis. This is description of an unusual case of surgically treated patient with two metachronous malignant melanomas of the stomach and the esophagus. The former lesion was located in the cardia and effectively treated with R0 total gastrectomy. The latter was recognized after 67 mo and appeared as irregular, flat, pigmented areas located in the mid esophagus. Subtotal esophagectomy via right-sided thoracotomy, laparotomy and left-sided cervicotomy was performed, but neoplastic cells were found in distal margin (R1). Fourteen months after esophagectomy multiple lung metastases were detected. Patient died 2 mo later.