Melanoma
Here's the brain partially exposed by the neurosurgeon to reveal a melanoma (the black spot at the center)! This advanced IV stage malignant melanoma metastasized and found its way up to the brain, which is one of the most common and difficult-to-treat complications of the aggressive disease. Most of the symptoms of CNS melanoma metastases are unspecific and depend on localization of the lesion. CT and MRI among others are used in order to define the characteristics of the lesions and to embase the surgical plan. Treatment depends on each situation, surgery, radiosurgery, whole brain radiotherapy and chemotherapy are used in combination to obtain longer remissions and optimal symptom relieve. Surgical resection of an isolated metastasis (seen above) can lead to a long survival but brain lesions are frequently numerous and associated with an extracerebral diffusion, which may require combination of other treatment options.
