Melanoma of skin of the breast: therapeutic considerations based on six cases

Melanomas of the skin of the breast are uncommon lesions which are amenable to cure with standard mastectomy techniques, even when lymphatic spread has occurred. Of six patients treated at the University of Iowa, two have died of metastatic melanoma, one treated by wide excision and subsequent axillary dissection and the other by radical mastectomy initially. Of the remaining patients, one with positive axillary nodes at the time of mastectomy died 28 years following operation of unrelated causes, one with axillary nodes involved is 5 years without evidence of recurrence, and two who have been followed for less than 2 years, are without evidence of recurrent disease in spite of having had positive nodes at the time of initial treatment. All six patients had had pigmented lesions of the skin of the breast for many years, suggesting that such lesions in this location should be considered premalignant.