Open AccessGiant cutaneous melanomas: evidence for primary tumour induced dormancy in metastatic sites?
Author(s) -
William W. Tseng,
Judy A Doyle,
Sheilagh Maguiness,
Andrew E. Horvai,
Mohammed KashaniSabet,
Stanley P. L. Leong
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
bmj case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.231
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 1757-790X
DOI - 10.1136/bcr.07.2009.2073
Subject(s) - medicine , melanoma , lymph node , dissection (medical) , surgery , axillary lymph node dissection , radiology , physical examination , lymph , cancer , breast cancer , pathology , sentinel lymph node , cancer research
Two patients with giant, 8 cm and 19 cm melanomas of the upper extremity, respectively, are presented and discussed. Both patients had neglected their tumours and sought medical attention only after the appearance of distressing symptoms (for example, bleeding). Palpable lymph nodes were found on physical examination but no evidence of distant metastases was noted on imaging studies despite such enormous primary tumours. Both patients underwent aggressive treatment, including complete surgical resection of the primary tumour and ipsilateral axillary lymph node dissection. One patient had no evidence of local recurrence, but developed metastatic disease at 6 months follow-up. The other patient developed local recurrence and distant metastases within 2 months of resection.