Definition
Melanocytic tumors of the cervix are melanocytic proliferations which range from benign to malignant. In the cervix, they consist primarily of blue nevi and melanoma. There are several hypotheses on the melanocyte’s origin in the cervix, which includes transformation from schwannian cells, metaplastic transformation from endocervical epithelium, and migration of neural crest cells (Parada et al. 2012).
Clinical Features
Incidence
The incidence of cervical pigmented lesions is low. Although some propose that the incidence of blue nevi is underestimated. Around 77 cases of cervical blue nevi have been reported in the literature. Only 5% of primary melanoma occurs in the gynecological tract, and much more commonly in the vulva (75%) and vagina (19%), although some have estimated rates as high as 2–9%. Radiation, estrogen, and high-risk HPV infections have been considered possible risk factors for melanoma (Benson and Tan 2000; Khoo et al. 1991; Rohwedder et al. 2002).
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References and Further Reading
Benson, R. J., & Tan, L. T. (2000). Radiation-induced malignant melanoma of the cervix. Clinical Oncology (Royal College of Radiologists (Great Britain)), 1, 2234–2237.
Cantuaria, G., Angioli, R., Nahmias, J., Estape, R., & Penalver, M. (1999). Primary malignant melanoma of the uterine cervix: Case report and review of the literature. Gynecologic Oncology, 75, 170–174.
Deshpande, A. H., & Munshi, M. M. (2001). Primary malignant melanoma of the uterine cervix: Report of a case diagnosed by cervical scrape cytology and review of the literature. Diagnostic Cytopathology, 2, 5108–5111.
Eskue, K., Prieto, V. G., & Malpica, A. (2010). Cellular blue nevus of the uterus: A case report and review of the literature. International Journal of Gynecological Pathology, 2, 9583–9586.
Hagiwara, T., Kaku, T., Kobayashi, H., Hirakawa, T., & Nakano, H. (2005). Coexisting vulvar malignant melanoma and blue nevus of the cervix. Gynecologic Oncology, 9(9), 519–520.
Khoo, U. S., Collins, R. J., & Ngan, H. Y. (1991). Malignant melanoma of the female genital tract. A report of nine cases in the Chinese of Hong Kong. Pathology, 2, 3312.
Mihajlovic, M., Vlajkovic, S., Jovanovic, P., & Stefanovic, V. (2012). Primary mucosal melanomas: A comprehensive review. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology, 5(8), 739–753.
Parada, D., Peña, K. B., & Riu, F. (2012). Coexisting malignant melanoma and blue nevus of the uterine cervix: An unusual combination. Case Reports in Pathology, 986, 542–547.
Piura, B. (2008). Management of primary melanoma of the female urogenital tract. The Lancet Oncology, 9, 973–981.
Pusceddu, S., et al. (2012). A literature overview of primary cervical malignant melanoma: an exceedingly rare cancer. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, 81, 185–195.
Pusceddu, S., et al. (n.d.). A literature overview of primary cervical malignant melanoma: An exceedingly rare cancer. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, 8, 1185–1195.
Report, C. (2004). Common blue nevus of the uterine cervix. Applied Immunohistochemistry & Molecular Morphology, 12, 79–82.
Rodriguez, H. A., & Ackerman, L. V. (1968). Cellular blue nevus: Clinicopathologic study of forty-five cases. Cancer, 2, 1393–1405.
Rohwedder, A., Philips, B., Malfetano, J., Kredentser, D., & Carlson, J. A. (2002). Vulvar malignant melanoma associated with human papillomavirus DNA: Report of two cases and review of literature. The American Journal of Dermatopathology, 2, 4230–4240.
Tran, T. A. N., et al. (2014). The spectrum of grossly visible pigmented lesions in the uterine cervix: A prospective study. International Journal of Gynecological Pathology, 33, 89–99.
Udager, A. M., et al. (2017). Gynecologic melanomas: A clinicopathologic and molecular analysis. Gynecologic Oncology, 14, 7351–7357.
Yu, Y., et al. (2020). Predictive biomarkers and tumor microenvironment in female genital melanomas: A multi-institutional study of 55 cases. Modern Pathology, 3(3), 138–152.
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Almadani, N., Hoang, L. (2022). Melanocytic Tumors. In: van Krieken, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pathology. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_5619-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_5619-1
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Latest
Melanocytic Tumors, Pathology of the Cervix- Published:
- 19 July 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_5619-2
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Melanocytic Tumors- Published:
- 27 July 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_5619-1