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Colonic malignant melanoma mimicking colon carcinoma
Author(s) -
Venkataraman Subramanian,
Peter Shajan,
Pulimood Anna B.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
digestive endoscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.5
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1443-1661
pISSN - 0915-5635
DOI - 10.1111/j.1443-1661.2004.00354.x
Subject(s) - medicine , melanoma , gastrointestinal tract , mucosal melanoma , metastasis , pathology , lesion , colorectal cancer , gastroenterology , oncology , dermatology , cancer , cancer research
Primary melanoma originating in the gastrointestinal tract is rare and is usually in the anorectum. We describe a solitary left colonic melanoma in a 59‐year‐old man and review the pertinent literature. Isolated colonic melanoma is a rare diagnosis, and the published literature seems to suggest better outcomes in this group of patients with surgical excision, unlike metastasis elsewhere in the gastrointestinal tract. It is unclear how melanomas arise in tissues with no pigmented cells, as in the colon. It is possible that regressed primaries elsewhere could have been the underlying primary lesion in such patients.