Primary anorectal malignant melanoma treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and sphincter-sparing surgery: A case report.
Primary anorectal (PA) malignant melanoma (MM) is a rare disease associated with a high mortality rate. The most appropriate treatment strategy for PAMM remains controversial. A 55-year-old female patient, who was misdiagnosed with locally advanced rectal carcinoma, was treated with preoperative radiotherapy and concurrent oral capecitabine. During the therapy, grade 1 leukopenia occurred, however, there was no interruption to treatment. Following chemoradiotherapy, a computer tomography scan identified that the tumor had shrunk significantly and the original enlarged lymph nodes had disappeared. Eight weeks after completion of chemoradiotherapy, sphincter-sparing surgery was performed on the patient and based on the postoperative pathological result, MM was diagnosed. At the time of writing, the patient has survived disease-free for 15 months and at the most recent follow-up examination the Karnofsky Performance Scale score was 100. The therapeutic regimen of neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy together with sphincter-sparing surgery is considered to be an optimal choice for patients with PAMM. However, further studies are required to evaluate the efficacy and clinical utility of this therapeutic regimen.
Department of Radio-Chemotherapy Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, P.R. China.
Meng
M
Su
Department of Radio-Chemotherapy Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, P.R. China.
Lucheng
L
Zhu
Department of Radio-Chemotherapy Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, P.R. China.
Wenhua
W
Luo
Department of Radio-Chemotherapy Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, P.R. China.
Hangping
H
Wei
Department of Radio-Chemotherapy Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, P.R. China.
Changlin
C
Zou
neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy; primary anorectal malignant melanoma; sphincter-sparing surgery