Malignant melanoma in transplant patients: a case report and review of the literature

Abstract

The clinical course and outcome of malignant melanoma (MM) are well-established for immunocompetent groups; however, they are not well-documented for immunosuppressed populations. Specifically, the influence of immunosuppression may result in poorer outcomes, especially in more advanced cases of melanoma. We report a 67-year-old woman who had previously undergone a kidney and pancreas transplant and presented with American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage IIIA melanoma with subsequent rapid demise. As medicine advances with greater numbers of organ transplant recipients, a multi-institutional prospective study for this at-risk population would be greatly beneficial to help characterize the incidence, progression, and prognosis of melanoma in posttransplant immunosuppressed populations.