Solitary melanoma in the pineal gland: Differentiating primary from metastatic melanoma in the central nervous system

Primary melanoma of the pineal gland is exceedingly rare. Melanoma in the central nervous system (CNS) is far more likely to be a metastasis from a cutaneous primary; however, in a patient with no known history of melanoma, differentiating metastatic from primary CNS melanoma may present a diagnosti...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Denesh Selvarajah, Hana Angelia Kawatu, Peter Mews, Elizabeth C Paver
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Interdisciplinary Neurosurgery
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214751925000404
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850155167715950592
author Denesh Selvarajah
Hana Angelia Kawatu
Peter Mews
Elizabeth C Paver
author_facet Denesh Selvarajah
Hana Angelia Kawatu
Peter Mews
Elizabeth C Paver
author_sort Denesh Selvarajah
collection DOAJ
description Primary melanoma of the pineal gland is exceedingly rare. Melanoma in the central nervous system (CNS) is far more likely to be a metastasis from a cutaneous primary; however, in a patient with no known history of melanoma, differentiating metastatic from primary CNS melanoma may present a diagnostic challenge. The distinction is important, however, as there are significant differences in tumour biology, prognosis, and responses to treatment. This report describes a rare case of solitary melanoma of the pineal gland in a 75-year-old female with no known history of melanoma and was considered as most likely to be a metastatic melanoma of unknown primary based on molecular testing of the tumour. This case highlights the utility of extended panel molecular testing in differentiating metastatic melanoma of unknown primary from primary CNS melanoma and the scarcity of evidence in the literature to guide the treatment in this setting.
format Article
id doaj-art-315031a7b17b4da3be99a2dab9db93fd
institution OA Journals
issn 2214-7519
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Interdisciplinary Neurosurgery
spelling doaj-art-315031a7b17b4da3be99a2dab9db93fd2025-08-20T02:25:01ZengElsevierInterdisciplinary Neurosurgery2214-75192025-06-014010202810.1016/j.inat.2025.102028Solitary melanoma in the pineal gland: Differentiating primary from metastatic melanoma in the central nervous systemDenesh Selvarajah0Hana Angelia Kawatu1Peter Mews2Elizabeth C Paver3Neurosurgical Registrar, Department of Neurosurgery, The Canberra Hospital, Australia; Corresponding author.Anatomical Pathology Registrar, Department of Anatomical Pathology, The Canberra Hospital, AustraliaConsultant Neurosurgeon, Head of Department, Department of Neurosurgery, The Canberra Hospital, AustraliaConsultant Anatomical Pathologist, Department of Anatomical Pathology, The Canberra Hospital, Australian National University Medical School, ACT, AustraliaPrimary melanoma of the pineal gland is exceedingly rare. Melanoma in the central nervous system (CNS) is far more likely to be a metastasis from a cutaneous primary; however, in a patient with no known history of melanoma, differentiating metastatic from primary CNS melanoma may present a diagnostic challenge. The distinction is important, however, as there are significant differences in tumour biology, prognosis, and responses to treatment. This report describes a rare case of solitary melanoma of the pineal gland in a 75-year-old female with no known history of melanoma and was considered as most likely to be a metastatic melanoma of unknown primary based on molecular testing of the tumour. This case highlights the utility of extended panel molecular testing in differentiating metastatic melanoma of unknown primary from primary CNS melanoma and the scarcity of evidence in the literature to guide the treatment in this setting.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214751925000404Primary CNS melanomaMeningeal melanomaPineal glandMetastatic melanoma
spellingShingle Denesh Selvarajah
Hana Angelia Kawatu
Peter Mews
Elizabeth C Paver
Solitary melanoma in the pineal gland: Differentiating primary from metastatic melanoma in the central nervous system
Interdisciplinary Neurosurgery
Primary CNS melanoma
Meningeal melanoma
Pineal gland
Metastatic melanoma
title Solitary melanoma in the pineal gland: Differentiating primary from metastatic melanoma in the central nervous system
title_full Solitary melanoma in the pineal gland: Differentiating primary from metastatic melanoma in the central nervous system
title_fullStr Solitary melanoma in the pineal gland: Differentiating primary from metastatic melanoma in the central nervous system
title_full_unstemmed Solitary melanoma in the pineal gland: Differentiating primary from metastatic melanoma in the central nervous system
title_short Solitary melanoma in the pineal gland: Differentiating primary from metastatic melanoma in the central nervous system
title_sort solitary melanoma in the pineal gland differentiating primary from metastatic melanoma in the central nervous system
topic Primary CNS melanoma
Meningeal melanoma
Pineal gland
Metastatic melanoma
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214751925000404
work_keys_str_mv AT deneshselvarajah solitarymelanomainthepinealglanddifferentiatingprimaryfrommetastaticmelanomainthecentralnervoussystem
AT hanaangeliakawatu solitarymelanomainthepinealglanddifferentiatingprimaryfrommetastaticmelanomainthecentralnervoussystem
AT petermews solitarymelanomainthepinealglanddifferentiatingprimaryfrommetastaticmelanomainthecentralnervoussystem
AT elizabethcpaver solitarymelanomainthepinealglanddifferentiatingprimaryfrommetastaticmelanomainthecentralnervoussystem