title: Uterine cervical melanoma presenting with rapid progression detected by PET/CT.
abstract: Malignant melanoma of the uterine cervix is a rare extracutaneous melanoma which develops aggressively and is associated with a bleak prognosis. To our knowledge, no prior published reports have discussed the role of 18F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in managing this disease. Our case study involved a 66-year-old woman with a malignant melanoma of the uterine cervix. The patient received PET/CT that identified metastases and lesions which had not been detected from her MRI. Serial PET/CT elucidated that the disease was initially limited to the pelvis, but then metastasized to the abdominal para-aortic lymph nodes, followed by extensive metastases to the brain, lungs, breast, supraclavicular, neck, and other abdominal lymph nodes, as observed at 6-month follow-up. PET/CT was used to complement conventional anatomic imaging modalities, and provided a novel modality for whole body screening. Visualization of the metabolic activity of indeterminate lesions may help in staging, re-staging, treatment planning, and prognostic prediction for patients with this rare disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taipei Medical University Hospital , Taipei ; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital , Taipei.
authors.forename: Ya-Ju
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Pei-Wei
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Shueng
authors.forename: Sheng-Chien
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Wen-Yu
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Yu-Chien
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Shiau
authors.forename: Chung-Huei
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Hsu
keywords: Melanoma; PET/CT; uterine cervix