| Malignant Melanoma
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Etiology
• Sun exposure.
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Pathogenesis
• Proliferation of melanocytes either in the uveal tract (iris, ciliary body and choroid) or in the retina,
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Epidemiology
• Incidence is 5% that of melanoma in general
• Affects older patients with sun exposure
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General Gross Description
• Usually pigmented lesion which may be visible if located anteriorly
• Posterior lesions may be detected with change in vision
• Malignancy may also be detected after metastatic spread
•Examples:
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General Microscopic Description
• May be spindle cell or epithelioid
• Spindle cell lesions may be relatively bland with little mitotic activity
• Epithelioid lesions lesions have large pleomorphic nuclei, prominent nucleoli, variably pigmented cytoplasm and mitotic activity
•Examples:
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References
• Cotran RS, Kumar V, Robbins SL. Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease 5th edition. W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, 1994, pp. 1180-1.
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| Malignant Melanoma
| | Synopsis by: Melinda Sanders M.D. (TXX000M87203)[351]
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