Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012:2012:385175.
doi: 10.1155/2012/385175. Epub 2012 Dec 20.

Malignant melanoma of the urethra: a rare histologic subdivision of vulvar cancer with a poor prognosis

Veronika Günther  1 , I Alkatout, C Lez, S Altarac, R Fures, H Cupic, Z Persec, Z Hrgovic, C Mundhenke
Affiliations

Malignant melanoma of the urethra: a rare histologic subdivision of vulvar cancer with a poor prognosis

Veronika Günther et al. Case Rep Obstet Gynecol. 2012.

Abstract

Malignant melanoma of the urethra is a rare tumour that is difficult to diagnose and treat, resulting in a poor prognosis. In this paper, we present the case of a 65-year-old woman who was referred to a gynaecologist because of a urethral mass that mimicked a caruncle. The tumour was removed by local excision, and a pathological analysis revealed a malignant melanoma. Distal urethrectomy was performed after three months with no evidence of residual tumour. There was no evidence of disease at a six-year followup. In this paper, we compare the epidemiology, treatment, staging, and prognosis of vulvar cancer in general to malignant melanoma of the vulva in particular.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Polypoid, partially ulcerated melanoma of the female urethra (haematoxylin and eosin stain ×40).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Nests of atypical melanocytes, with the large nuclei showing prominent nucleoli and numerous mitotic figures (haematoxylin and eosin stain ×400).
Figure 3
Figure 3
HMB-45 expression in melanoma cells (the immunohistochemical stain HMB-45, MSIP ×200).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Akoz I, Ayas S, Eren S, Bilgic R. Synchronous cervical and vulvar malign melanomas: metastasis or multifocality of the disease? A case report and review of the literature. International Journal of Gynecological Cancer. 2006;16(2):917–920. - PubMed
    1. Nakamoto T, Inoue Y, Ueki T, Niimi N, Iwasaki Y. Primary amelanotic malignant melanoma of the female urethra. International Journal of Urology. 2007;14(2):153–155. - PubMed
    1. Chung AF, Woodruff JM, Lewis JL., Jr. Malignant melanoma of the vulva. A report of 44 cases. Obstetrics and Gynecology. 1975;45(6):638–646. - PubMed
    1. Hacker NF. Vulvar cancer. In: Berek JS, Hacker NF, editors. Practical Gynecologic Oncology. 4th edition. Philadelphia, Pa, USA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2005.
    1. Homesley HD, Bundy BN, Sedlis A, et al. Assessment of current International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics staging of vulvar carcinoma relative to prognostic factors for survival (A Gynecologic Oncology Group Study) American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 1991;164(4):997–1004. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources