Melanoma of the Genitourinary Tract

Primary Malignant Melanoma of the Urinary Bladder Diagnosed by Urine Cytology

“…Approximately 45% of patients dying of melanoma have metastases to the kidney, and 18% have metastases to the bladder. 5 Therefore, it is very important to distinguish primary from metastatic melanoma of the bladder. Criteria introduced by Anisworth 4 and by Stein and Kendall 15 for the diagnosis of primary malignant melanoma of the urinary bladder include a lack of history of a cutaneous lesion; examination of the entire skin surface with a Wood lamp to exclude a regressed cutaneous melanoma; failure to locate other visceral disease with clinical studies; a pattern of recurrence consistent with a primary lesion having been in the bladder; and atypical melanocytes at the periphery of the bladder lesion.…”

A Case of Metastatic Malignant Melanoma Presenting with Hematuria

“…Furthermore, even though up to 14-22% of patients with metastatic malignant melanoma have bladder involvement at autopsy series, only one third of these patients develop urinary tract symptoms. In the rest the diagnosis is usually made during autopsy [1][2][3]. It is also known that patients usually have widespread disease at the time bladder involvement is diagnosed.…”

Cytologic Detection of Metastatic Malignant Melanoma in Urine

“…In a few cases of metastatic melanoma apparently limited to the urinary bladder or ureter, surgical resection was performed, 3,8,15 with poor results. Local recurrence associated with widespread disease was observed in a short period.…”