title: Primary malignant melanoma of the vagina: a case report.
abstract: Primary malignant melanoma of the vagina is a very rare, but very aggressive tumor. We describe a case of primary vaginal melanoma and review the literature. The patient, a 73-year-old, gravida 2, para 2 postmenopausal Greek woman, presented with abnormal vaginal bleeding for 30 days. On vaginal examination there was a 5.5 x 5 x 2 cm raised, ulcerated and irregular lesion on the posterior vaginal wall. Pathology examination of the entire specimen demonstrated a nodular vaginal melanoma. The histologic diagnosis was confirmed by positive immunostaining. The patient began postoperative immunotherapy with interferon-a2b. She died 25 months later because of cerebral metastases. In conclusion, the prognosis of vaginal melanoma is very poor, despite the treatment modality, because most cases are diagnosed at a late stage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Patras University Hospital, Rion, Greece.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Androutsopoulos
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Adonakis
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ravazoula
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kourounis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000601:surgery; D014592:Uterine Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology; D014625:Vaginal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery