Atypical primary malignant melanoma originating in the spinal canal: A case report and literature review

Oncol Lett. 2023 Aug 22;26(4):433. doi: 10.3892/ol.2023.14020. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Abstract

Central nervous system (CNS) malignant melanomas are rare tumors of the CNS that are thought to arise from aberrant changes in melanocytes of the neural crest or melanocytic elements of the pia mater during early embryonic development. As a rare type of CNS malignant melanoma, only a few cases of primary malignant melanoma in the spinal canal have been reported thus far. The majority of these studies have reported on the diagnosis, radiographic features and gross total resection of primary spinal canal malignant melanoma; however, the prognosis and ideal treatment of patients with residual tumors remain elusive. The current study presented the rare case of a patient with primary malignant melanoma originating from the thoracic spinal canal, without any history of irradiation exposure and with an incompletely resected tumor. Disease-free survival of >2.5 years was observed in this patient who was treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide and bevacizumab.

Keywords: bevacizumab; central nervous system; chemotherapy; primary melanoma; radiotherapy; spinal cord.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

Grants and funding

The present study was supported by the Joint Special Funds for the Department of Science and Technology of Yunnan Province-Kunming Medical University (grant no. 202001AY070001-141) and the PhD Research Fund project of the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (grant no. 2019BS003).