Ocular melanoma in a patient successfully treated for diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma: a case report

BACKGROUND: Diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma and ocular melanoma are both rare tumors. To the best of our knowledge there is only one previous report of three cases in a family with known susceptibility to malignancies associating diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma and ocular melanoma, with no sporadic cases previously reported. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe the case of a 59-year-old man with a history of diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, who presented with ocular melanoma 41 months after cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. We also briefly review the literature. CONCLUSIONS: Diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is an uncommon but aggressive disease. As diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma characteristically remains confined to the abdominal cavity, any new extra-abdominal symptom should eventually raise suspicion of another primary tumor. Few cases of diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma associated with other primary tumors have been reported. As ocular melanoma is also infrequent, we suspect a genetic predisposition to these tumors. There is emerging evidence supporting the role of BAP1 mutations in the pathogenesis of these two neoplasias.