A large metastatic intramammary lesion of an occult melanoma

Malignant melanomas presenting with unknown primaries are uncommon. In the majority of cases metastases of occult melanoma were detected in skin or in lymph nodes. Melanoma can rarely occur as a primary or metastatic intramammary tumor.

We report the case of a 58-year-old Caucasian woman who came to our department with a voluminous mass in her right breast. Histopathological examination found metastasis of epithelioid melanoma with unknown primary lesion. Our patient underwent a radical enlarged mastectomy, but due to the extension a radical removal was not possible.

In 2.2% of cases, melanoma may present with a metastasis without an identifiable primary lesion; this case should be considered a stage IV melanoma (Tx; N1; M1) due to the extension of the lesion and the infiltration of adjacent structures.

In literature, the presence of a breast metastasis of melanoma with unknown primary origin was reported just in one case. The execution of histopathological analysis is mandatory for a correct differential diagnosis with primary carcinoma of the breast. Palliative metastasectomy should be discussed with multidisciplinary melanoma board.

Breast metastases, Metastatic melanoma, Unknown primary site.