Case report--melanoma of the anorectum

Melanomas of the gastrointestinal tract are rare tumours, the anorectum being the most common site. Anorectal melanomas can pose difficult diagnostic and therapeutic problems. Awareness on the part of both the clinician and histopathologist that melanomas can rarely occur in the anorectum is an important pre-requisite to its diagnosis as specific histopathological staining may be required. Therapeutically, surgery remains the primary option. Prognosis is however poor as metastatic disease is commonly established at presentation. When the tumour is sited in the rectum, the cells of origin is controversial. A case of disseminated anorectal melanoma is described.