Primary malignant melanoma of uterine cervix.

Primary malignant melanoma of uterine cervix is a rare and aggressive neoplasm. Approximately 3%-7%of malignant melanomas in women develop within genital tract. Majority occurs in vulva or vagina, but cervix is a rare site. Age range for cervical melanoma is from 19 to 83 years with peak incidence between 60 to 70years. Malignant melanoma presents with vaginal bleeding or discharge and appears as exophytic, polypoid, pigmented or colorless cervical mass. Diagnosis is by histopathology but should be confirmed by immune-histochemical staining with S100protein and HMB45. It is also useful in distinguishing amelanotic melanoma from anaplastic carcinoma, high grade lymphoma and sarcoma. Primary melanoma of cervix with prominent spindle cell component should be distinguished from lieomyosarcoma and many benign melanotic lesions. Primary cervical melanoma must be differentiated from secondary metastasis of melanoma from other sites in the body. Prognosis of primary cervical melanoma is generally poor, because diagnosis is usually made at an advanced stage and tumor is highly aggressive and shows local recurrence and widespread metastases. There is no consensus on optimal management of primary malignant melanoma of cervix, because of its rarity .Cervical melanoma is incurable in totality even with the currently available therapies and hence needs to be diagnosed early. Recently the morphological features of primary cervical melanoma on pap smear have been described, raising the hope of early diagnosis. We report for its rarity a case of malignant melanoma of the cervix in a 60 year old female who presented with white discharge per vagina.