Amelanocytic anorectal malignant melanoma—Case report. (2019) - Serra, Marta
Highlights: Anorectal malignant melanoma, is a rare and aggressive form of melanoma. Very different from its cutaneous counterpart. There is no optimal treatment. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment, but the extent is controversial. Patient's quality of life deserves attention when choosing the adequate surgical technic. Abstract: Introduction: Anorectal malignant melanoma (AMM), is a rare and aggressive form of melanoma. Accounts for <2% of melanomas, and <2% of anal tumors. It is more frequent at the 6 th –7 th decade, mostly in women. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment, but the extent is controversial. Case presentation: 82-year-old male, presented with rectal mass in the Emergency Room (ER). After local excision, pathology observed that the mass corresponded to AMM. Despite being stage I (Local disease), a year later it presented with local recurrence and distant metastasis. The patient died 32 months after diagnosis. Conclusions: There is no optimal treatment, due to the lack of prospective studies. Wide local excision (WLE) has faster recovery, less post-operatory complications and similar survival rate compared to abdominal perineal resection (APR).