Metastatic melanoma of the gallbladder: report of two cases and a review of the literature.
Melanoma is one of the most aggressive and highly metastatic cancers. The most common sites of distant metastases are soft tissues, lung, liver, skin and brain, whereas only few patients develop gastrointestinal metastases. Metastatic involvement of the gallbladder is rare and more often part of a widespread disease than a solitary lesion. The "gold-standard" treatment of metastatic melanoma of the gallbladder remains unclear. We report two cases of patients with past history of cutaneous melanoma who developed visceral metastases. The first patient was asymptomatic and had a widespread disease with metastatic involvement of both the spleen and the gallbladder. The second patient had an isolated metastasis of the gallbladder and complained of upper abdominal pain. The chosen treatment was open cholecystectomy (and splenectomy) in the first case and laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the second. A review of the literature is provided.
General Surgery and Liver Transplantation Unit, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University "A. Moro" of Bari, Policlinico. Piazza G. Cesare, 11, 70124, Bari, Italy. ivanagi83@yahoo.it.
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Giannini
Complex Operating Unit of Plastic Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University "A. Moro" of Bari, Bari, Italy.
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Cutrignelli
Department of Emergence and Organ Transplantation, Institute of Pathological Anatomy, University "A. Moro" of Bari, Bari, Italy.
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Resta
Department of Emergence and Organ Transplantation, Institute of Pathological Anatomy, University "A. Moro" of Bari, Bari, Italy.
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Gentile
General Surgery Unit, Policlinico of Bari, Bari, Italy.
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Vincenti
D002763:Cholecystectomy; D005704:Gallbladder / Q000473:pathology; D005706:Gallbladder Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D013156:Splenectomy
Cholecystectomy; Gallbladder metastasis; Laparoscopic cholecystectomy; Melanoma