Abdominal emergencies in patients with stage IV Melanoma: The role of surgery: A single-centre experience

Abstract

Background/Aim: Metastatic melanoma is an aggressive disease with poor prognosis. Melanoma can potentially involve any organ. In this article, we report on a single-centre experience in emergency surgery for M1c melanoma. Patients and Methods: Twenty-eight consecutive patients with M1c melanoma underwent surgical exploration due to abdominal emergencies. Pre-operative computed tomography confirmed the diagnosis and the location of the affected site. Pre-operative lactate dehydrogenase serum levels and post-operative histopathology findings were recorded. Results: Intestinal obstruction was the most frequent intraoperative finding (75%). The ileum was most frequently affected (28.6%). Multifocal disease and extra-gastrointestinal tract metastases were present in 25% of cases each. Lactate dehydrogenase serum level was increased in 75% of the patients. Most patients underwent an enterectomy. Conclusion: Curative surgery for stage IV melanoma remains debatable, but surgery for patients presenting with abdominal emergencies appears to improve both survival rate and prognosis. Combined novel therapies and surgical resection is currently being studied with promising results.