A case of primary amelanotic melanoma of the vagina.

Park, Mi Hwa; Han, You Jung; Park, Young; Baek, Jong Chul; Park, Ji Kwon; Sunwoo, Jae Gun; Lee, Jong Hak; Paik, Won Young

Obstet Gynecol Sci > Volume 52(8); 2009 > Article

Case Report

Korean Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 2009;52(8):877-882.
Published online August 1, 2009.

A case of primary amelanotic melanoma of the vagina.

Mi Hwa Park, You Jung Han, Young Park, Jong Chul Baek, Ji Kwon Park, Jae Gun Sunwoo, Jong Hak Lee, Won Young Paik

¹Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea. wypaik@gnu.ac.kr
²Gyeongsang Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea.

Abstract

Primary malignant melanoma of the vagina is extremely rare, accounting for 3% of all primary malignant tumor of the vagina and 0.3~1% of all malignant melanomas in the female. The amelanotic melanoma of the vagina showing no melanin granules on histological examination is exceedingly rare, accounting for only about 10% of all melanoma of the vagina. The amelanotic melanoma of the vagina is often difficult to differentiate from non-epithelial malignant tumor because of the minimal number of melanin granules. We describe a case of primary amelanotic melanoma of the vagina, which was initially suspected to be a non-epithelial malignant tumor, especially malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST), but was correctly diagnosed by HMB-45 antibody and S-100 protein immunohistochemical staining. So we present this case with a brief review of literature.

Key Words: Amelanotic melanoma, Vagina, Immunohistochemistry