Abstract
Background: Primary melanoma of the female genital system are extremely rare (2-3%). Patients and Methods: A retrospective review was undertaken of patients with primary melanoma of the female genital system treated from 1990-2003 at Rostock University Hospital, Germany. Different treatments (sentinel node biopsy, inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy, en bloc resection, adjuvant Interferon-alpha-therapy, adjuvant chemotherapy) are discussed. The complicated classification is reduced to a clinical path for daily use (UICC stage and invasion depth of Breslow, Clark's level and Chung's level). Results: We report on 10 patients, aged 26 to 76 years, with primary melanoma of the female genital tract. Seven women developed a vulvar melanoma and one woman a malignant melanoma of the cutaneous inguinal region, while another 2 women had an unusual primary location of the malignant melanoma, the cervico-vaginal region (n=1) and the left ovary (n=1). Conclusion: Initial surgical modality did not influence long-term survival, but affected disease-free survival significantly.
Footnotes
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Abbreviations: AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer; FIGO, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics; 5-YSR, Five-year survival rates; MRI, Magnetic resonance imaging; UICC, International Union against Cancer.
- Received December 31, 2003.
- Revision received April 7, 2004.
- Accepted October 15, 2004.
- Copyright© 2005 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved