title: Primary malignant melanoma of the common bile duct: a case report and review of the literature.
abstract: Primary malignant melanoma of the common bile duct is rare. To our knowledge, only 6 cases have been reported previously. The pathologic diagnosis of primary malignant melanoma in extracutaneous sites often requires the use of confirmatory immunohistochemical stains and electron microscopy studies, as well as tests to rule out other possible remote or concurrent primary sites. The presence of junctional activity adjacent to the tumor is another important requisite for the diagnosis of this entity. Nevertheless, absolute exclusion of a metastatic melanoma from an unknown occult site or regressed site is not entirely possible. We describe our observations in a case of primary malignant melanoma of the common bile duct in a 48-year-old man and discuss the criteria for diagnosis of primary melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shoup
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pickleman
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000556:secondary*; D002758:Cholangiography; D003138:Common Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000737:chemistry / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary*; D020460:Melanosomes / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor