Abstract:
Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics, pathological diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of amelanotic melanoma in the female genital tract (AMFGT).
Methods: The medical records of 6 patients with AMFGT seen in our hospital be-tween 1991 and 2006 were reviewed.
Results: Of these 6 patients, four were initially misdiagnosed with chorioepithelioma, sarcoma, adenocarcinoma and lymphoma, respectively.Two of these 4 patients were determined to have AMFGT preopera-tively after immunohistochemical detection for S-100 protein and HMB-45.Specimens removed from all 6 cases were an-alyzed after immunohistochemical staining and Hematoxylin and Eosin staining.Expression of S-100 and Vimentin were observed in all patients.HMB-45 was positive in 3 patients.Two patients suffered relapse at 6 months, one suffered re-lapse at 12 months, and one suffered relapse at 19 months after the primary treatment.One patient died 13 months after the initial diagnosis, one died 18 months after the initial diagnosis, and one died 19 months after the initial diagnosis.
Conclusion: The fact that AMFGT lacks pigmentation makes diagnosis very difficult.S-100 protein, HMB-45 and Vi-mentin are important immunohistochemical markers that should be used in the evaluation of AMFGT.