Two Cases of Malignant Melanoma in Vulva.

Chung, Min Ji; Kim, Dae Won; Lim, Hyun Chul; Kim, Byung Yun; Seong, Won Joon; Cho, Young Lae; Park, Il Soo; Lee, Yoon Soon

Case Report

Korean Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 2003;46(11):2296-2302.
Published online November 1, 2003.

Two Cases of Malignant Melanoma in Vulva.

Min Ji Chung, Dae Won Kim, Hyun Chul Lim, Byung Yun Kim, Won Joon Seong, Young Lae Cho, Il Soo Park, Yoon Soon Lee

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kyungpook National University, School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.

Abstract

Vulvar melanomas are account for 4-10% of all malignant tumors of the vulva and are the second most common cause of the vulvar malignancy with the highest frequency in the sixth and seventh decades and rare with incidence of 0.1 to 0.19 per 100,000 women. The most common presentation is a vulvar mass, although pruritis and bleeding also are frequent. In some cases, the melanoma has arisen from a pre-existing benign or atypical pigmented lesion. Vulvar melanomas appear to behavior as other cutaneous melanomas. Both the level of invasion of a malignant melanoma and its thickness have prognostic significance. Vascular space invasion and tumor necrosis also are associated with a poorer prognosis. Recently the radical vulvectomy dose not appear to improve survival when compared to wide local excision with bilateral inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy. We had 2 cases of vulvar melanoma treated with wide local excision and laparoscopic inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy.

Key Words: Malignant melanoma, Wide excision, Laparoscopic inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy