Primary melanoma of the bladder: case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: Primary melanoma of the bladder is extremely rare and has been sporadically reported in case reports. Its incidence, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes are still unclear. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a 67-year-old female patient who presented with hematuria and was diagnosed with primary melanoma of the bladder by transurethral resection. No distant metastasis was detected by fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT). After a multidisciplinary discussion, the patient received laparoscopic radical resection of the bladder tumor. There was no tumor recurrence or distant metastasis after 15 months of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Primary melanoma of the bladder is easily confused with urothelium carcinoma in morphology. The immunohistochemical is crucial in diagnosis. Because of a lack of in-depth understanding of primary melanoma of the bladder, the “gold standard” treatment has not been set. We would like to provide some rare information about it and discuss the proper treatment strategy for this rare disease. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12957-022-02753-5.