Masson Regnault M, Mazereeuw-Hautier J, Fraitag S
Service de dermatologie, CHU de Poitiers, université de Poitiers, hôpital Jean-Bernard, Poitiers, France; Service de dermatologie, centre de références de maladies rares de la peau et des muqueuses, CHU de Toulouse, université Paul Sabatier, hôpital Larrey, Toulouse, France.
Service de dermatologie, centre de références de maladies rares de la peau et des muqueuses, CHU de Toulouse, université Paul Sabatier, hôpital Larrey, Toulouse, France.
Ann Dermatol Venereol. 2020 Nov;147(11):729-745. doi: 10.1016/j.annder.2020.05.001. Epub 2020 Jun 17.
Neonatal and infantile malignant melanoma is rare. It may be difficult to diagnose and often carries a poor prognosis.
We decided to review the data on congenital, neonatal and infantile malignant melanomas in order to understand their presentation (clinical, histological, molecular), diagnosis, management and outcomes. We performed a literature search of all cases of early-onset melanoma published in PubMed from its inception to March 2019 using the following keywords: "malignant melanoma" OR "melanoma" OR "pigmented nevus" OR "malignant pigmented" AND "infantile" OR "congenital" OR "children" OR "childhood" OR "infancy" OR "neonatal". Congenital melanoma associated with maternal-foetal transmission was not included in the study.
Sixty-five articles were selected and 85 cases were included in the study. Most patients were male (sex ratio: 1.6). The average age at diagnosis was 5.5 months (minimum-maximum: 0-24 months). The main site reported for congenital melanoma was the head-and-neck area and for neonatal and infantile melanoma the trunk. Half of all patients had a metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis. In metastatic cases, the prognosis was poor with the exception of patients undergoing complete excision of the tumour and metastases. The main treatment for cutaneous melanomas and operable metastasis was surgery, and secondarily, chemotherapy/immunotherapy.
Neonatal and infantile malignant melanoma are rarely reported and not well-documented. It is necessary to collect additional cases to improve our knowledge of this rare disease.
