PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - JAHNKE, A.
AU  - MAKOVITZKY, J.
AU  - BRIESE, V.
TI  - Primary Melanoma of the Female Genital System: A Report of 10 Cases and Review of the Literature
DP  - 2005 May 01
TA  - Anticancer Research
PG  - 1567--1574
VI  - 25
IP  - 3A
4099  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/25/3A/1567.short
4100  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/25/3A/1567.full
SO  - Anticancer Res2005 May 01; 25
AB  - 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.