Malignant melanoma of the lung: report of two cases.

Malignant melanoma (MM) is the most fatal cutaneous neoplasm. Primary MM of the lung is quite rare, and late recurrence of MM is also uncommon. We report 2 cases of pulmonary MM, the first involving primary MM of the lung and the second involving late recurrence 8 years after the initial surgery. Bronchoscopic punch biopsy identified MM in both cases. In the first case, work-up of the patient did not reveal any anomalies other than those in the primary site. In the second case, the patient had a history of thumb amputation for MM 8 years ago. For pulmonary MM, extrapulmonary origin of the tumor must be excluded by detailed examination because melanomas involving the lung are almost always metastatic. Whether the diagnosis is primary or metastatic disease, the potential for recurrence should be considered even in patients with a long disease-free survival.