Mucosal melanoma · gynaecologic sites

Vulvar and vaginal melanoma

Rare malignancies with different anatomy but the same need for accurate pathology, local staging and assessment of systemic risk. On the public patient layer we deliberately favour MRI and pathology rather than intimate clinical photographs.

What may be noticed

Symptoms depend on the site

Most such symptoms have benign causes, but persistent change deserves gynaecologic assessment.

A visible or palpable lesion

Pigmented or without obvious pigmentation.

Pigment change

A new or evolving asymmetric area.

Bleeding or discharge

Especially without a clear benign explanation.

Discomfort, pain or itch

Nonspecific symptoms interpreted together with examination.

Imaging

MRI helps plan local treatment

The patient page can communicate diagnostic information without unnecessary exposure of intimate clinical photography.

MRI of vaginal mucosal melanoma before and after immunotherapy — **Vaginal melanoma: MRI**Case-report example before and after ipilimumab + nivolumab; it does not establish universal efficacy of this combination.Source · CC BY

MRI ultrasound Doppler and specimen in vulvar melanoma — **Vulvar melanoma: multimodal assessment**Example combining MRI, ultrasound/Doppler and the surgical specimen.Source · CC BY 4.0

Pathology

Amelanotic disease can be diagnostically challenging

Morphology is interpreted together with immunohistochemistry and clinical context. The clinician section separately addresses SOX10/S100/Melan-A/HMB45, PRAME and differential diagnosis.

Histology of vaginal melanoma before and after treatment — **Pathology**Example of morphologic assessment from a published case report.Source · CC BY

Pathology for clinicians