J Korean Surg Soc.  2012 Dec;83(6):388-392. 10.4174/jkss.2012.83.6.388.

Primary cutaneous malignant melanoma of the breast

• Kim SK
• Kim YW
• Youn HJ
• Park HS
• Jung SH

• KMID: 1437538
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4174/jkss.2012.83.6.388

Abstract

Cutaneous malignant melanoma of the breast can be divided into two categories: primary and metastatic lesions. Cutaneous malignant melanoma of the breast is a rare tumor, accounting for less than 5% of all malignant melanomas. Clinical features and diagnostic methods of primary cutaneous malignant melanoma of the breast are similar to those arising from other cutaneous areas. Treatment of choice is wide local excision with adequate resection margin according to tumor thickness. Sentinel lymph node biopsy should be performed because the presence of lymph node metastasis is the most important prognostic factor. There have been only limited reports involving primary cutaneous malignant melanoma of the breast. Thus, we report a case of primary cutaneous malignant melanoma in a 59-year-old woman with a review of the recent literature.

Keyword

Breast neoplasms; Melanoma; Sentinel lymph node biopsy

MeSH Terms

Accounting
Breast
Breast Neoplasms
Female
Humans
Lymph Nodes
Melanoma
Middle Aged
Neoplasm Metastasis
Nitriles
Pyrethrins
Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy
Nitriles
Pyrethrins

Figure

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  Fig. 1 A 59-year-old woman with a 2.0 × 1.5 cm sized and an ulcerative pigmented skin lesion in the right breast.

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  Fig. 2 Gross finding (A) and cut surface (B) of the right breast lesion after wide local excision.

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  Fig. 3 Microscopic findings of the right breast lesion. (A) Low power view reveals many tumor cell nests located in superficial dermis just beneath the epidermis (arrows). Tumor cell nests are arranged in laterally spreading pattern and some of them are brown-black pigmented (H&E, ×40). (B) High power view reveals tumor cells with large nuclei, prominent nucleoli and abundant cytoplasm with brown-black pigments (H&E, ×400).

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