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THE SURGICAL MANAGEMENT OF ANORECTAL MALIGNANT MELANOMA
Author(s) -
BOEY JOHN,
CHOI T. K.,
WONG JOHN,
ONG G. B.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.111
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1445-2197
pISSN - 0004-8682
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-2197.1981.tb05924.x
Subject(s) - medicine , abdominoperineal resection , occult , groin , surgery , dissection (medical) , melanoma , laparotomy , amputation , lymphadenectomy , general surgery , lymph node , cancer , colorectal cancer , alternative medicine , pathology , cancer research
The biological vagaries of anal malignant melanoma are illustrated by four cases in Chinese patients. All four died within five years. Their poor prognosis emphasizes the value of preoperative studies to detect clinically occult metastases and obviate futile radical surgery. Many patients already have disseminated disease at the time of diagnosis, and local excision of the tumour provides acceptable palliation. For localized disease, abdominoperineal resection prevents local recurrence and removes the mesenteric nodes which are frequently involved. Palpable inguinal nodes necessitate therapeutic groin dissection, but we perform elective resection only when affected nodes are found at laparotomy. Pelvic lymphadenectomy should be performed in conjunction with abdominoperineal resection. The efficacy of chemotherapy for anorectal melanoma remains uncertain.