Page 133 - TD-4-1

Tumor Discovery

CASE REPORT
Clinical presentation and demographic

characteristics of polypoid melanoma on the
back: A case study

Emmanuel Angel Zappettini* and Sergio Fernández Vértiz

Department of Surgery, Rural Hospital of Santa María Magdalena, Magdalena, Buenos Aires,
Argentina

Abstract

Polypoid melanoma (PM) is a variant of nodular melanoma characterized by exophytic
growth, an irregular surface, and a cauliflower-like appearance. Its reported incidence
varies widely, ranging from 2% to 43%, and it is associated with a poor prognosis. This
study presents a case of this rare melanoma subtype, along with its demographic
characteristics, as reported in the international literature. PM is recognized as an
independent risk factor in the evolving landscape of melanoma and requires tailored
management strategies. Dermatologists and surgical oncologists should maintain a
high level of suspicion to improve patient outcomes.
*Corresponding author:
Emmanuel Angel Zappettini Keywords: Polypoid melanoma; Nodular melanoma; Demographic; Surgical treatment;
(eazappettini@med.unlp.edu.ar) Overall survival
Citation: Zappettini EA, Vértiz SF.
Clinical presentation and
demographic characteristics of
polypoid melanoma on the back: 1. Background
A case study. Tumor Discov.
2025;4(1):125-128. Polypoid melanoma (PM) is a rare and aggressive subtype of nodular melanoma (NM),
doi: 10.36922/td.5105
associated with one of the worst prognoses among all melanoma types. The biological
1
Received: October 10, 2024 behavior of this tumor remains poorly understood due to the scarcity of available
1st revised: January 14, 2025 evidence, which is largely limited to case reports. In addition, the definition of PM has
evolved over the years, complicating the interpretation of available scientific evidence.
2nd revised: January 24, 2025
PM often shares characteristics with other conditions that may appear benign but
Accepted: January 24, 2025 conceal a malignant diagnosis, making its detection particularly challenging.
Published online: February 17, This case report describes a case of PM from an epidemiological, clinical, and
2025
therapeutic perspective. By providing a detailed analysis, this report seeks to raise
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s). awareness of this rare disease and highlight the importance of differential diagnoses to
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the optimize accurate identification and treatment.
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution, 2. Case presentation
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is An 82-year-old male patient, living alone in a rural area, presented to the Surgery
properly cited. Department with a 1-year history of a polypoid tumor on his back (Figure 1). The
Publisher’s Note: AccScience lesion was associated with itching, burning pain, and occasional bleeding. His
Publishing remains neutral with medical records revealed only dyslipidemia, for which he was treated with micronized
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional fenofibrate (200 mg daily). Physical examination revealed a brown polypoid tumor with
affiliations. a cauliflower-like appearance (Table 1). The lesion had a small stalk, was ulcerated, and

Volume 4 Issue 1 (2025) 125 doi: 10.36922/td.5105