A woman had undergone excision for primary melanoma of the left heel and dissection of groin lymph nodes. The recurrent tumor on the lateral left lower leg developed six months ago and the depigmented plaques spread extensively on the left lower limb. The depigmented macules were localized to the left lower limb and were not seen in other areas. Although the left groin lymph node had been dissected, the local immune environment of anti-tumor immunity was preserved. The cause of melanoma-associated vitiligo is regarded to be anti-tumor autoimmune mediated, and this phenomenon is recently recognized during the therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of stage III and IV melanoma.
Keywords: local immunity; melanoma; recurrence; vitiligo.
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