A Case of Malignant Melanoma of Vulva / 대한산부인과학회잡지

ABSTRACT

Malignant melanoma of the vulva is a rare neoplasm and accounts for approximately 10% of all vulvar malignancies. Five-year survival rates range from 8% to 54%, with occuring predominantly in postmenopausal white women. As compared with malignant melanoma of the skin, vulvar melanoma infiltrates early deep into the tissues with abundant lymphatic channels and blood vascularization, so its prognosis is mostly poor. Depth of invasion has been reported as the single most important indicator of prognosis. Historically the treatment of choice for vulvar melanoma has been en bloc radical vulvectomy with bilateral inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy. But recently there have been reports suggesting that acceptable survival may be achieved by less radical operation. The authors report a 84-year old woman with malignant melanoma of the vulva. She underwent wide local excision of the lesion. Now we are following her up with no clinical evidence of cancer recurrence and remnant.