Abstract
A 54-year-old man felt a mass on the left axilla three years previously. Because some malignant melanomas metastasized to the left axillary lymph node, we thoroughly examined him from head to foot to identify the primary tumor.
We found the primary tumor in the left flank and performed resection and cancer chemotherapy. We found a 10mm tumor in the middle lobe of the right lung, one year and six months after the surgery of the primary tumor. It was suspected that the tumor was a metastasis of the malignant melanoma to the lung, and that surgery was necessary, but he refused it. However, because of tumor enlargement, he accepted right middle lobectomy. It was 11 months after his abnormal chest shadow was pointed out. The tumor was an oncogenic lesion of 33mm including the border; the sectioned surface was white. For tissue pathologic findings, we diagnosed the metastases to the lung of the amelanotic melanoma. The postoperative course is good and he has been followed up in the outpatient department for 18 months postoperatively. It is thought that there are few cases with surgical indication for this disorder, however if surgical complete resection is possible, then prognosis improvement is expected, and therefore it is important to examine the presence of positive surgical indication.
