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Bladder

Other tumors

Melanoma of bladder

 

Author: Nat Pernick, M.D. (see Authors page)

Revised: 24 December 2009, last major update - December 2009

Copyright: (c) 2002-2009, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.

 

Definition

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Primary tumors are rare (<50 cases reported) and are associated with melanosis; metastases are much more common

 

Terminology

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Epidemiology

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Ages 44-81 years

● No gender preference

 

Sites

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Etiology

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Clinical features

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Almost all reported cases are fatal

 

 

Prognostic factors

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Case reports

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● 80 year old woman with widespread melanosis in vagina and bladder developing into multifocal melanoma (Archives 1991;115:950

● 82 year old man with no known non-bladder tumor (Int J Urol 2006;13:635)

Melanoma with melanosis exhibiting atypia (Archives 1992;116:1213)

 

Treatment

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● Excision, possibly IL-2 (Urology 2003;62:351)

 

Clinical images

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Gross description (Macroscopy)

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● Occurs throughout bladder, variable pigmentation

 

Gross images

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Metastatic melanoma with numerous black focal metastases seen in bladder mucosa

 

Metastatic melanoma with diffuse discoloration of the mucosa in 31 year old woman with melanoma removed from skin one year before her death from widespread metastases

 

Micro description (Histopathology)

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● Spindled or epithelioid; epithelioid cells often have marked pleomorphism, abundant cytoplasm, prominent eosinophilic nucleoli

● Necrosis and mitotic figures common

● Often atypical melanocytes

 

Micro images

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melanosis #1 (not melanoma)#2-Fontana Masson stain for melanin

 

metastatic tumor #1#2-HMB45+

 

Cytology description

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Cytology images

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● Malignant cells, some with cytoplasmic melanin; also macrophages containing melanin (Acta Cytol 2001;45:631)

 

Positive stains

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● S100, HMB45, other melanocytic markers

 

Negative  stains

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Electron microscopy descriptions

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Electron microscopy images

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Molecular / cytogenetics description

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Molecular / cytogenetics images

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Differential Diagnosis

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Metastatic melanoma: clinical history of primary, although some primaries spontaneously regress so this may be difficult to conclusively establish; no bladder melanosis

 

Additional references

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End of Bladder > Other tumors > Melanoma of bladder

 

 

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