1 Nov 2017Case Report
A large metastatic intramammary lesion of an occult melanoma
Eleonora Nacchiero 1Stefania Stucci 2Paolo Annoscia 1Michelangelo Vestita 1Rossella Elia 1Paolo Marannino 1
Affiliations
Article Info
1 Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Burns Unit, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
2 Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, Section of Internal Medicine and Oncology, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
Ann. Ital. Chir., 2017, 88(6), 553-556;
Published: 1 Nov 2017
Copyright © 2017 Annali Italiani di Chirurgia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Malignant melanomas presenting with unknown primaries are uncommon. In the majority of cases metastases of occult melanoma were detected in skin or in lymph nodes. Melanoma can rarely occur as a primary or metastatic intramammary tumor. CASE REPORT: We report the case of a 58-year-old Caucasian woman who came to our department with a voluminous mass in her right breast. Histopathological examination found metastasis of epithelioid melanoma with unknown primary lesion. Our patient underwent a radical enlarged mastectomy, but due to the extension a radical removal was not possible. DISCUSSION: In 2.2% of cases, melanoma may present with a metastasis without an identifiable primary lesion; this case should be considered a stage IV melanoma (Tx; N1; M1) due to the extension of the lesion and the infiltration of adjacent structures. CONCLUSIONS: In literature, the presence of a breast metastasis of melanoma with unknown primary origin was reported just in one case. The execution of histopathological analysis is mandatory for a correct differential diagnosis with primary carcinoma of the breast. Palliative metastasectomy should be discussed with multidisciplinary melanoma board.
Keywords
- Breast metastases
- Metastatic melanoma
- Unknown primary site