[Long-term survival after metastatic cerebral melanoma]

Long-term survival, i.e. more than 10 years after the surgical removal of a metastatic intracerebral melanoma, is very rare. We report such a case, the patient is living and in good health 12 years later.

In 1985, a 63-year-old woman underwent occipital craniotomy. An ovoid, 4 cm diameter, superficial, black tumor was removed. The diagnosis of a metastatic cerebral melanoma was confirmed by histopathology and immunocytochemistry. Ten years before she had had a superficial spreading melanoma excised from her right foot. She has recently been seen without any recurrence of her melanoma.

Three other cases of long-term survival after metastatic cerebral melanoma have been reported. Additionally, our patient had her metastatic cerebral melanoma ten years after removal of a superficial spreading melanoma. There are only a few examples of such long intervals before the occurrence of metastatic cerebral melanoma. Sometimes, the past medical history of a patient with cerebral metastasis should be investigated very carefully.