Remarkable 23-year survival after bilateral thoracic melanoma metastasectomy

The prognosis of patients with metastatic melanoma is poor, with an annual risk of death of approximately 20% during the first 3 years. The survival average is only 6 to 8 months, and the 5-year survival rate is around 5%. This report describes a remarkable clinical outcome of complete resection of pulmonary metastatic melanoma. The 72-year-old woman is still alive without relapse 27 years after the initial diagnosis and 23 years after the last tumor excision. This remarkable outcome would indicate that the tumor cell population was composed of a particular metastatic phenotype.