Article Text
Summary
Melanoma with rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation is an extremely rare observation with a review of the literature revealing fewer than 15 previously identified cases. The authors describe a case of a 72-year-old man with a cutaneous lesion of the left scalp that was diagnosed as malignant melanoma on biopsy and wide excision. One month later, a punch biopsy of the excisional area revealed rhabdomyosarcomatous proliferation. Re-examination of the wide-excision specimen with muscle markers revealed areas of neoplastic melanoma cells consistent with rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation.
- general surgery
- head and neck surgery
- pathology
- dermatology
- head and neck cancer
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Footnotes
Contributors AK was pathology resident and the principal author and contributed to the majority of the research and text. JA was the surgical resident on the case who wrote the clinical findings and follow-up. MD was the pathologist who originally recognised and diagnosed the case and contributed to the histopathological description of the tumour. FS was the general surgeon who performed multiple biopsies and resection on the scalp tumour, as well as clinical follow-up of the patient.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent Obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.