Vladimír Bartoš, Juraj Mikuláš, Dušan Pokorný, Pavol Lamoš
Malignant tumors of the urethra are relatively rare and represent less than 1% of all urological malignancies. The most
frequent histological types are squamous cell carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Melanoma
arising in this location is uncommon, and it accounts for about 4% of all urethral malignancies. The authors describe
an 80-year old woman with a history of bleeding mucosal bulge extruding from the meatus of the urethra. A presumptive
clinical diagnosis was urethral prolapse or caruncle. The lesion was excised. A histology revealed a melanoma infiltration
of the urethral mucosa. Subsequently, partial urethrectomy was performed. In a routine urological practice,
a primary melanoma of the urethra is diagnosed only exceptionally. It usually occurs in the elderly with a prevalence
of women. Since it typically arises from the distal part and meatus of the urethra, it initially resembles a prolapse or
mucosal polyp, leading to delays in detection and treatment. Therefore, the lesions with such appearance and other
accompanied atypical features (e.g. prolonged bleeding) should also be suspected for this serious oncologic disease.