A Case of Metastatic Malignant Melanoma of the Liver Resulting from Choroidal Melanoma

Park, Yong Geun; Choi, Hwang; Kim, Yong Hyun; Kim, Young Su; Park, Joon Il; Han, Joon Yeol; Kim, Jae Kwang; Chung, Kyu Won; Sun, Hee Sik

Abstract

If there are multiple masses in the liver and a history of melanoma removed from the skin or other sites, a possible diagnosis could be that the multiple masses in the liver are in that metastatic lesions originating from the primary site of the previously removed melanoma. Although ocular melanoma is not as common as the cutaneous melanoma, it is the most common malignant ocular neoplasm. The metastatic patterns of the two mela-nomas are different. The ocular melanoma spreads to the liver exclusively at an early stage. If laboratory results, CT, arteriography, and MRI suggest a metastatic malignant melanoma of the liver, the diagnosis can be confirmed by laparoscopy and aspiration needle biopsy. The treatment of the ocular melanoma with metastasis to liver has been local resection, hepatic artery embolization, or systemic chemotherapy. Those treatment modalities, how-ever, have failed to improve the survival rates, and the metastatic malignant melanoma remains to be an incurable disease. A case is reported of a metastatic malignant melanoma of the liver in a 57-year-old male patient, that was discovered 4 years after an enucleation of a choroidal melanoma of the right eye.