MALIGNANT-MELANOMA OF THE UTERINE CERVIX - CASE-REPORT INCLUDING CYTOLOGY, HISTOLOGY AND IMMUNOCYTOCHEMISTRY

Malignant melanoma (MM) is an extremely rare condition of the cervix u teri. A world wide search by Mordel et al.(3) revealed 25 case reports of this tumour. A detailed description of its cytologic picture is av ailable in only five cases(1). Since MM of the cervix has a different therapy and a worse prognosis than squamous carcinoma, a correct morph ologic diagnosis should be achieved as early as possible. This is by n o means easy, since malignant melanomas of the cervix pose considerabl e diagnostic problems. Whereas malignancy is usually recognized at onc e, tumour typing is difficult in most cases. The amelanotic and the sp indle shaped types are easily confused with other tumours. In these ca ses, immunocytochemistry is helpful to achieve a correct diagnosis. We have recently observed a case of malignant melanoma of the uterine ce rvix, in which the tumour was diagnosed correctly by means of immunocy tochemical investigations.