Shortreed Hannah, Burute Nishigandha, Aseyev Olexiy
Department of Undergraduate Medical Education, Northern Ontario School of Medicine University, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada.
Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada.
Front Oncol. 2024 Aug 20;14:1419827. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1419827. eCollection 2024.
Adrenal gland metastases from malignant melanoma are a common but poorly characterised condition. Their lack of consistent clinical features and poor response to immune checkpoint inhibitors pose a significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to practitioners. This case report describes a 78-year-old male with no prior history of melanoma presenting with nonspecific abdominal symptoms and unintentional weight loss who was found to have undifferentiated bilateral adrenal gland metastases from malignant melanoma. Despite ongoing investigations, the primary site of the adrenal gland metastases remained unknown, prompting the consideration of primary adrenal melanoma as a diagnosis. The patient underwent four cycles of treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, nivolumab and ipilimumab, followed by maintenance therapy and subsequent adrenal metastasectomy. Despite therapeutic efforts, the patient's tumour was resistant to treatment and became undifferentiated. The patient continued with palliative care until his death, more than three years after the onset of symptoms. The clinical features, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of this patient's disease are discussed in detail to help inform the management of similar cases.
恶性黑色素瘤的肾上腺转移是一种常见但特征描述不足的病症。其缺乏一致的临床特征且对免疫检查点抑制剂反应不佳,给从业者带来了重大的诊断和治疗挑战。本病例报告描述了一名78岁男性,既往无黑色素瘤病史,出现非特异性腹部症状和体重意外减轻,经检查发现患有恶性黑色素瘤导致的未分化双侧肾上腺转移。尽管进行了持续调查,但肾上腺转移的原发部位仍不明,这促使考虑原发性肾上腺黑色素瘤作为诊断。该患者接受了四个周期的免疫检查点抑制剂纳武单抗和伊匹单抗治疗,随后进行维持治疗及后续肾上腺转移瘤切除术。尽管进行了治疗,但患者的肿瘤对治疗耐药并发生了去分化。患者继续接受姑息治疗直至死亡,症状出现三年多后去世。详细讨论了该患者疾病的临床特征、病理生理学、诊断、治疗和预后,以帮助指导类似病例的管理。