Malignant Melanoma in Bilateral Dermoid Cysts of the Ovary

Malignancy arising in cystic ovarian teratomas.

“…Sarcomatous change has also been reported (Kelly & Scully 1961;Climie & Heath 1968;Caruso et al 1971). Rare cases have included malignant melanomas (Bruning 1963;El-Minawi & Hori 1973) and thyroid adenocarcinoma (Mayberger 1959). The prognosis for these patients has been generally very poor in previous series, the majority dying within 12 months of diagnosis (Peterson et al 1956;Kelly & Scully 1961;Krumerman & Chung 1977;Curling et al 1979;Yakushiji et al 1981).…”

“…Malignant transformation of one of the elements of the teratoma is reported to occur in 1-20% of patients although I-2% is a generally accepted incidence (Peterson 1957;Kelly & Scully 1961;Climie & Heath 1968;Caruso et al 1971;Novak & Woodruff 1979;Krumerman & Chung 1977). Squamous cell carcinoma is by far the most common malignancy (Peterson 1957;Novak & Woodruff 1979;Krumerman and Chung 1977;Yakushiji et al 1981), with adenocarcinoma much less frequent (Peterson 1957;Kelly & Scully 1961) and a wide variety of rarer malignancies (Mayberger 1959;Climie & Heath 1968;El-Minawi & Hori 1973;Robboy et al 1975;Curling et al 1979).…”

Amelanotic malignant melanoma arising in an ovarian dermoid cyst

“…Finally, in cases of malignant melanoma with multi-organ involvement, the definition of what is primary and secondary becomes arbitrary. Consequently, some authors regard the presence of junctional melanocytic activity in the dcrmoid cyst adjacent to OMM as a major criterion for a primary OMM (12,13). We find this attitude too restrictive, excluding all such cases (incl.…”

“…One reason is that primary cutaneous malignant melanoma may regress spontaneously, leaving only metastatic deposits ( 1 1). Additionally, cutaneous malignant melanoma metastatic to bilateral ovarian dermoid cysts has been reported (12). Finally, in cases of malignant melanoma with multi-organ involvement, the definition of what is primary and secondary becomes arbitrary.…”

Mature ovarian cystic teratoma with combined squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma

“…Primary ovarian melanomas without evidence of teratoma have been described, but the review by Cronje and Woodruff [6] expresses reservations about their origin. However, there are occasional reports of cutaneous melanoma metastasizing to MOCT [8]. Junctional activity was detected in 8 out of 16 cases (typical in 3 [6,20,23], atypical in 4 [1,17,22,29], unspecified in 1 [26]), but none had combined typical and atypical junctional activity.…”