Primary melanoma of the adrenal gland: a case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: Primary melanoma of the adrenal gland is exceptionally rare as demonstrated by the few cases reported in the medical literature, and it has a high fatality rate. We present the case of a patient with two relapses and survival to date. CASE REPORT: We describe the case of a 58-year-old Caucasian woman who consulted her doctor with symptoms of asthenia, anorexia and weight loss. A mass was palpated in her abdomen at the height of the left hypochondrium. A computed tomographic scan revealed a retroperitoneal mass measuring 10 cm × 15 cm originating in the left adrenal gland. A left nephroadrenalectomy and splenectomy were performed. Histopathologically, the retroperitoneal mass corresponded to a melanoma, and no primary melanoma was found in any other location. The patient was treated with interferon-α-2b. Three years after her diagnosis the patient presented with a retroperitoneal relapse of the mass measuring 7.2 cm, which was removed. Five years after the first relapse a new retroperitoneal relapse mass was diagnosed, which was also removed. Since then the patient has been healthy and free from illness. CONCLUSION: Histological and immunohistochemical studies, together with the criteria described by Ainsworth et al. and Carstens et al., allowed us to diagnose primary melanoma of the adrenal gland.