Cutaneous melanoma and bilateral retinoblastoma

We report the case of an otherwise healthy 37-year-old man who had had bilateral enucleation during early childhood for bilateral retinoblastomas, in addition to two cutaneous melanomas (the first appearing at age 27 years). He also had dysplastic melanocytic nevi and a history of cutaneous melanoma in his mother. Retinoblastoma may aggregate in families and is associated with DNA abnormalities of chromosome 13. Recent reports have emphasized the appearance of second malignancies in retinoblastoma survivors. The second malignancies include osteosarcoma, soft tissue sarcoma, and cutaneous melanoma. Cutaneous melanoma also may aggregate in families, usually in the setting of dysplastic melanocytic nevi. The features of this case and of similar reported cases suggest that there may be a greater than expected association between retinoblastoma and cutaneous melanoma.