title: Amelanotic malignant melanoma of the uterine cervix with ten-year follow-up.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malignant melanoma (MM) accounts for 3% of cancers that affect women and results in less than 1% of cancer deaths. It is characterized by clinical variability and unpredictable biological behavior. Fewer than ten cases of amelanotic MM (AMM) have been reported in literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 61-year-old woman was admitted for vaginal spotting. A huge, soft cervix with an exophytic lesion was biopsied. A clear cell carcinoma, FIGO Stage IB1, was diagnosed and radically treated. The final pathology showed an AMM of the cervix positive for PAS and HMB 45. The patient is clinically free of disease ten years postoperatively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Malignant melanoma of the cervix is often misdiagnosed because of non discriminatory features and the capacity to mimic other tumors. Malignant melanoma of the cervix needs to be diagnosed as quickly as possible because a timely therapy and a long and careful follow-up might result in better survival.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gynecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. dariomandato@virgilio.it
authors.forename: V D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Mandato
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kobal
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Stefano
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sinkovec
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Levicnik
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rakar
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Costagliola