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Melanoma of unknown primary
Author(s) -
Song Yun,
Karakousis Giorgos C.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of surgical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.201
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1096-9098
pISSN - 0022-4790
DOI - 10.1002/jso.25302
Subject(s) - medicine , melanoma , etiology , lymph , primary (astronomy) , lesion , metastasis , metastatic melanoma , primary tumor , stage (stratigraphy) , immune system , oncology , pathology , cancer , immunology , cancer research , paleontology , physics , astronomy , biology
Formally described in the 1960s, melanoma of unknown primary (MUP) is characterized by the finding of metastatic melanoma within the lymph nodes, subcutaneous tissues, and other distant sites without an evident primary lesion. The most likely hypothesis of its etiology is an immune‐mediated regression of the primary after metastasis has occurred. In addition, patients with MUP appear to have equivalent or better outcomes compared with patients with known primaries of a similar stage.