what is rectal melanoma, and how to treat?

Answer 1

Typically, anorectal melanoma is right in the anal canal or at the anal opening. The problem with this type of tumor is that it can be very difficult to diagnose. First of all, it is a comparitively rare lesion, and secondly, it can appear very similar to a variety of other unrelated anorectal problems. It can even look like a hemorrhoid.

The cancer is typically advanced at the time of diagnosis with over 60% of people having cancer already spread to sites well away from the primary tumor. Although surgery is typically performed to remove the tumor, the various kinds of surgical removal don't seem to demonstrate that one is better than another, and this is primarily due to the fact that the disease very commonly has already spread to other sites and it does not respond well to chemotherapy or radiation. Median survival with this disease is between 12 and 18 months, and there doesn't appear to be a lot that alters this.

The thickness of the tumor, as in all melanomas, is useful information. It may be that thin tumors predict a better outcome. Data suggest that for those with tumors less than 2mm thick, survival is improved.

The surgical options for this cancer are "wide local excision" and "abdominal-perineal resection". Wide local excisions are removals of cancers along with a margin of normal tissue. For melanomas this is a centimeter or two, depending on thickness of the tumor. Abdominal-perineal resection is a major abdominal surgery that involves removal of the rectum and anus, closure of the pelvic floor, and creation of a colostomy. The advantage of wide local excision is that it is a lesser operation, and frequently the patients who suffer from cancer diagnoses aren't in great shape for a big operation. The advantage of abdominal-perineal resection is that it is more likely to remove the whole tumor and prepare for effective radiation. Neither are shown to increase survival.

There are no strongly effective treatment regimens for melanoma. Some people are experimenting with interferon, and others are working with immunoglobulins. For someone with a rare tumor like anal melanoma, it would probably be best that they were evaluated by those working with these types of experimental protocols.

I hope that helps.

Answer 2

melanoma is melanoma, rectal just specifies the location, I would stick to the dermatologists recommendations for complete resection and further workup if necessary, good luck

Answer 3

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer, so I would say that it is skin cancer of the rectal tissue. I'm not sure what the exact treatment of that would be.