Clinicopathologic Presentation and Natural History of Anorectal Melanoma: A Case Series of 18 Patients.
Anorectal melanoma is a rare malignant neoplasm with variable natural history and nonspecific presentation. We describe the clinicopathologic and prognostic parameters of a series of 18 patients (16 [88.9%] white; 10 [55.6%] male; median age, 64.0 years [interquartile range, 45.8-74.3 years]) with histologically proven anorectal melanoma treated at our institution during a 21-year period between October 1991 and August 2012. Late diagnosis was common (44.5% of patients had stage II disease or worse at diagnosis), likely owing to a delay in presentation, nonspecific presenting symptoms, and frequent incorrect diagnoses (16 cases [88.9%]). Overall disease-specific mortality was 66.7% (12 of 18 patients), with a median time to death of 15.5 months (interquartile range, 7.3-25.5 months). Disease-specific survival was significantly better following wide local excision vs abdominoperineal resection (P = .04), although patients undergoing the former tended to have fewer rectal lesions (P = .04), smaller lesions (P = .02), and a trend toward less advanced stage (P = .06). Larger studies assessing optimal medical and surgical management for anorectal melanoma are needed to improve outcomes.
Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.
Caitlin W
CW
Hicks
Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.
Emmanouil P
EP
Pappou
Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.
Jonathan T
JT
Magruder
Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.
Benny
B
Gazer
Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.
Sandy
S
Fang
Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.
Elizabeth C
EC
Wick
Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.
Susan L
SL
Gearhart
Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.
Nita
N
Ahuja
Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.
Jonathan E
JE
Efron
D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents