title: Surgical treatment of metastases from cutaneous melanoma to the small intestine and the spleen. Case reports and review of the literature.
abstract: Cutaneous melanoma is found in the head and neck in 15% of patients, in the limbs in 22%, in the trunk in 40% and in occult sites in 16%. There is usually an interval of at least 3 years between the diagnosis of primary melanoma and the identification of metastases. Primary melanoma metastasizes most frequently to the lymph nodes (73.6% cases) and the lungs (71.3% cases). The small intestine and the spleen are the sites of 36.5% and 30.6% respectively of the gastrointestinal metastases from melanoma. The cases reported provide evidence of the effect radical resection in patients with gastrointestinal metastases can have on survival. The cases and a review of the literature suggest that a careful and multidisciplinary follow-up is of crucial importance since it is the only means of identifying metastases when they can be still cured with surgical treatment.
authors.affiliation: Divisione di Chirurgia Generale, Clinica Sanatrix in Napoli, Italia. diloren1974@libero.it
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Di Libero
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sciascia
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Esposito
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Varriale
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tartaglia
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Santini
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007078:Ileal Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D007580:Jejunal Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D013160:Splenic Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*