Metastatic malignant melanoma in bone marrow with occult primary site – a case report with review of literature

BACKGROUND: Metastases of malignant melanoma to the bone marrow are very rare. A few case reports are published in the literature with a known primary site. CASE PRESENTATION: Herein we present a case of metastatic malignant melanoma in bone marrow with occult primary site in a 22- year-old-male. Diagnosis was confirmed by morphology and immunohistochemistry. A pertinent review of literature is also presented by using relevant articles indexed in PubMed (National Library of Medicine) database. The search was based on the following terms: metastasis or metastases, malignant melanoma and bone marrow. CONCLUSION: In this report we discuss a rare case of metastatic malignant melanoma to the bone marrow with an unknown primary. Clinicians must be aware of the varied clinical manifestations of disseminated malignant melanoma even if the primary site is not evident.