Endobronchial and Brain Metastases of Malignant Melanoma during an 11-Year Follow up: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Although lung parenchyma is a common site for metastasis from extrathoracic tumors including melanoma, endobronchial metastasis from malignant melanoma is a very rare phenomenon. Malignant melanoma is generally known as a rapidly growing tumor, and recurrences are often observed within a short period. The most frequent non-pulmonary primary tumors with endobronchial metastasis are breast, kidney and colon. Endobronchial metastasis from malignant melanoma can simulate bronchogenic carcinoma and presenting symptoms include cough, hemoptysis, dyspnea and wheezing. There are only a few reports of endobronchial metastasis from malignant melanoma. Compared with primary lung, breast, renal or colorectal cancer, melanoma has the highest propensity to metastasize to the brain and these patients have significantly the worst overall prognosis. We report the first known described case of a 42-yearold woman who was diagnosed with endobronchial and brain metastases from a left thigh skin melanoma after being disease-free for 11 years.