Malignant Melanoma of Vagina: A Report and Review of Literature

Excerpt

Melanoma is one of the most serious forms of skin cancer. Melanomas may also arise from the mucosal epithelium lining the respiratory, alimentary, and genitourinary tracts. It accounts for less than 1 % of all malignant melanoma and less than 3 % of all primary malignant tumors of the vagina [1]. These melanomas are called mucosal melanomas, they are rare, and account for approximately 1 % of all melanomas [2]. Patients with mucosal melanomas usually belong to the older age group, and these types of melonomas occur more commonly in females compared to males, mainly due to the development of disease in the female genital tract. Melanomas arising from the female urogenital tract occur primarily in the vulva and vagina (95 and 3 %, respectively) [2]. Malignant melanoma of vagina is a rare and very aggressive tumor with an incidence of only 0.46 case per one million women per year [1] and with only around 250–300 cases reported in the literature to date. There are no significant differences, between various racial or ethnic groups [3, 4]. Vaginal primary malignant melanoma (VPMM) most commonly occurs in postmenopausal women [5, 6]. The mean age at diagnosis is 57 years [5, 6]. This is an aggressive tumor, and has a poor prognosis with 5-year-survival rate of 5–25 % only. The optimal treatment modality for vaginal melanoma is still a subject of debate. …