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. 2009 May;22(2):120-6.
doi: 10.1055/s-0029-1223844.

Anorectal melanoma

David Row  1 , Martin R Weiser
Affiliations

Anorectal melanoma

David Row et al. Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2009 May.

Abstract

The authors review the epidemiologic, clinicopathologic, and molecular features of anorectal melanoma, and discuss the differences between this uncommon and lethal disease and the more common and curable cutaneous form. Observations regarding outcomes after surgical resection will also be discussed, as well as predictors of survival and the use of adjuvant therapies. The recent discovery that the KIT oncogene may be aberrantly activated in a subset of patients with anorectal melanoma creates a realm of possibility for the development of targeted molecular therapy. Melanoma of the anorectum is an extremely rare tumor that is often difficult to diagnose. Its surgical management is controversial, and the prognosis remains poor.

Keywords: Melanoma; adjuvant treatment; anorectal disease; molecular therapy.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bisected abdominoperineal resection specimen showing a large nonpigmented melanoma of the anal canal (white arrow). Photograph courtesy of Dr. Jinru Shia, Department of Pathology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in practice at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC): (A) Recurrence-free survival before and after 1997. (B) Disease-specific survival before and after 1997. From Yeh et al. Used with permission of Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Disease-specific survival in patients who underwent abdominoperineal resection (APR) compared with local excision (LE). From Yeh et al. Used with permission of Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained histological section of an anorectal melanoma showing epithelioid tumor cells arranged in a nested growth pattern. The black arrow points to the presence of perineural invasion where tumor cells grow tightly around a peripheral nerve branch. Photograph courtesy of Dr. Jinru Shia, Department of Pathology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Disease-specific survival in patients with tumor perineural invasion. From Yeh et al. Used with permission of Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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