A case of multiple metastatic malignant melanoma with the largest lesion in the ileum and no skin lesion

• Main Authors: Shuji Suzuki, Shoichi Watanabe, Hiroshi Kato, Hideo Hattori, Akimichi Morita
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2012-12-01
• Series: Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences
• Subjects: Chemotherapy; Melanoma; Multiple metastases; Small intestine; Unknown primary site
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1607551X12001337

We report the case of a 72-year-old woman with malignant melanoma and multiple metastases; the largest tumor was in the ileum. The patient experienced general fatigue and bloody feces for 1 month before consulting a nearby clinic. Blood tests revealed anemia, and fecal occult blood was positive, but no abnormalities were detected using gastrointestinal endoscopy and colonoscopy or the skin of the entire body. Computed tomography images of the chest, abdomen, and pelvic region, and positron emission tomography–computed tomography images of the entire body revealed multiple nodules in the ileum, left mammary gland, left thyroid, right inguinal lymph node, and on the fascia of the right thoracic area and right buttocks. The tumor in the left mammary gland was excised and immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the excised tissue was positive for HMB45, melan-A, and MITF, but negative for S-100 protein. Diagnosed with melanoma with multiple metastases, the patient underwent four cycles of dacarbazine, nimustine hydrochloride, and vincristine (DAV) plus interferon beta chemotherapy and one cycle of dacarbazine, nimustine hydrochloride, cisplatin, and tamoxifen (DAC-Tam) chemotherapy. Two series of embolizations of the artery feeding the ileum tumors, as well as a series of plasma and red blood cell transfusions, were performed for ileum tumor hemorrhage. The patient was hospitalized eight times, for a total of 204 days during the 1-year survival period before her death from respiratory failure.