Original article
Anorectal melanoma in The Netherlands: a report of 63 patients

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0748-7983(96)92346-XGet rights and content

A retrospective analysis was performed of the clinical features and results of surgical treatment modalities of 63 cases of anorectal melanoma collected in The Netherlands. Most tumours presented in an advanced stage due to the obscure location and lack of specific symptoms. There were 34 patients with clinical stage I disease who were treated by either local sphincter-saving surgery (n = 16) or who had undergone an abdominoperineal resection (APR) (n = 18). We could not find a survival advantage for either one of these two treatment modalities. However, after a local procedure far more local recurrences were seen (12:1), but this did not influence the clinical course of these patients, as they often rapidly succumbed to distant metastases. It is concluded that, in the future, patients presenting with an anorectal melanoma should be treated with a sphincter-saving surgical approach whenever possible.

References (10)

  • WanéboHJ et al.

    Anorectal melanoma

    Cancer

    (1981)
  • GoldmanS et al.

    Anorectal malignant melanoma in Sweden

    Report of 49 patients

    Dis Colon Rectum

    (1990)
  • QuanSHQ

    Anal cancers

    Squamous and melanoma

    Cancer

    (1992)
  • RossMR et al.

    Patterns of failure in anorectal melanoma

    Arch Surg

    (1990)
  • WillemsenHL et al.

    Melanomen in het anorectale gebied

    Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd

    (1980)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (103)

  • Anorectal mucosal melanoma

    2023, Seminars in Colon and Rectal Surgery
  • Clinical and oncological outcomes of surgery in Anorectal melanoma in Asian population: A 15 year analysis at a tertiary cancer institute

    2021, Cancer Treatment and Research Communications
    Citation Excerpt :

    Brady et al. [9] recommended APR for ARMM after review of 85 cases in order to achieve better local control and survival. Subsequent large series reported equivalent oncological outcomes for WLE comparable to APR with better quality of life post-surgery [2,11,13,15–21]. Sentinel lymph node dissection may be performed in ARMM for the evaluation of metastatic disease as it metastasizes to mesenteric or inguinal lymph nodes; it is thus feasible [22,23].

View all citing articles on Scopus
View full text