title: Amelanotic conjunctival melanoma.
abstract: Conjunctival melanoma is a rare condition of the eye pigment predominantly affecting white adults. We describe a 32-year-old white man with an amelanotic malignant melanoma of the conjunctiva that is not associated with primary acquired melanosis (PAM) or melanocytic nevus. The patient presented with a 2-year history of nonpigmented vascularized nodules of the right eye. Results of hematoxylin and eosin (H and E) staining of the lesion showed an invasive nodule with vertical spreading, invasion of the substantia propria corneae, and ulceration. S100 protein was expressed in the cells of the invasive nodule. HMB45 protein was highly positive in the melanoma cells. The de novo amelanotic malignant melanoma of the conjunctiva we describe is an extremely uncommon tumor mainly affecting white adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 131, 90127 Palermo, Italy. istderm@unipa.it
authors.forename: Maria Rita
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Bongiorno
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lodato
authors.forename: Adamo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Affronti
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aragona
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aricò
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000473:pathology*; D003230:Conjunctival Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D018328:Melanoma, Amelanotic / Q000473:pathology*