A retrospective clinical analysis of 5 cases of vaginal melanoma

Abstract

Abstract.Vaginal melanoma is a rare tumor, accounting for <1% of all melanomas and ~1-5% of all vaginal malignant tumors. The prognosis of vaginal melanoma is extremely poor, as it is often resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and metastases may develop in the early stages of the disease. The present study investigated 5 patients with vaginal melanoma treated at the

Melanoma of the Vagina: Case Report and Systematic Review of the Literature

“…This is not surprising due to the rare occurrence of the disease and the fact that these therapies have only been available during the last couple of years. In the two cases described above, nivolumab was used alone and in combination with surgery and dacarbazine, both in the recurrent setting (6). In addition, the number of cases with molecular characterization was low.…”

“…At the time of this report, the patient was alive and with no evidence of disease. , we identified 67 citations reporting on women with PMV, defined for the purpose of this review as primary melanocytic or amelanocytic melanoma of the vagina with or without regional/distant metastases, but without concurrent cutaneous manifestation of melanoma (6,8,9,11,. Studies not reporting on women with PMV, double publications, and studies reporting on women with vulvar melanomas or melanomas metastatic to the vagina were excluded.…”

“…Data on targeted therapies or immune checkpoint inhibitors such as ipilimumab, nivolumab, or pembrolizumab were only reported in 2/805 cases of PMV. In these two cases, nivolumab was used alone and in combination with surgery and dacarbazine, both in the recurrent setting (6).…”

“…PMV is typically diagnosed in elderly women at an advanced stage and is characterized by early recurrence and a poor prognosis (2). The 5-year overall survival rate for PMV is below 20% compared to around 45% for those with vulvar melanoma and >80% for those with cutaneous melanoma (2)(3)(4)(5)(6). This remarkable difference has been attributed to a variety of factors, among them poorer visibility of PMV compared to cutaneous melanomas, late diagnosis, anatomical proximity to the vulvovaginal venous plexus, and tumor biology.…”

Malignant Melanoma of the Female Genital Tract: Experience of an Oncology Center in Pakistan

“…PMV usually occurs in older women and is most frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in early recurrence and a poor prognosis [5]. The five-year overall survival (OS) rate in patients with PMV is about 18%, compared with five-year OS rates of 47% in patients with vulvar melanoma and 81% in patients with cutaneous melanoma [5,7,9,10]. The occult nature of their anatomical location contributes to the late presentation and late diagnosis of PMV.…”