Metastatic Melanoma in the Chest and Abdomen: The Great Radiologic Imitator

Microbubble-Assisted Ultrasound for Imaging and Therapy of Melanoma Skin Cancer: A Systematic Review

Recent technological developments in ultrasound (US) imaging and ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) have improved diagnostic confidence in echography. In the clinical management of melanoma, contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) imaging complements conventional US imaging (i.e., high-resolution US and Doppler imaging) for clinical examination and therapeutic follow-up. These developments have set into motion the combined use of ultrasound and UCAs as a new modality for drug delivery. This modality, called sonoporation, has emerged as a non-invasive, targeted and safe method for the delivery of therapeutic drugs into melanoma. This review focuses on the results and prospects of using US and UCAs as dual modalities for CEUS imaging and melanoma treatment.

CT, MRI and PET/CT features of abdominal manifestations of cutaneous melanoma: a review of current concepts in the era of tumor-specific therapies

Abdominal manifestations in patients with cutaneous melanoma include involvement due to metastatic spread and immune checkpoint inhibitor induced adverse events. The purpose of this review is to provide a critical overview of abdominal manifestations in patients with cutaneous melanoma and highlight the current imaging challenges in the era of tumor-specific therapies. Immune checkpoint inhibitors represent a treatment with demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of advanced cutaneous melanoma but are associated with several abdominal adverse events that must be recognized. CT has a role in the identification of colitis, enteritis and pancreatitis, whereas MRI has an important role in the diagnosis of autoimmune pancreatitis. Current evidence demonstrates that MRI should be the preferred imaging technique for the detection and characterization of hepatic and splenic metastases from cutaneous melanoma. The role of ¹⁸F-FDG-PET/CT should be further evaluated but current literature suggests an efficacy in the detection of pancreatic metastases not seen on CT and MRI.

[Staging of cutaneous malignant melanoma by CT]

Malignant melanomas are a challenge in radiological imaging diagnostics as they may metastasize into every organ and tissue. Cross-sectional imaging, in particular positron emission tomography computed tomography (PET/CT) and whole body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are considered the standards in the staging of melanomas. Because of its excellent availability CT, however, remains a widely employed staging modality. Familiarity with the manifold CT morphology of metastasized melanomas as it is described here is essential when interpreting dedicated CT and in addition useful when interpreting PET/CT results. In individual cases CT can assist in the detection of transient metastases. In the detection of locoregional lymph node metastases CT has a median sensitivity and specificity in meta-analyses of at best 61 % and 97 %, respectively, which is inferior to the performance of ultrasound (96 % and 99 %, respectively). According to meta-analyses, in the assessment of systemic tumor spread CT can detect the majority of metastases with a sensitivity and specificity of 51-63 % and 69-78 %, respectively, which is inferior to MRI and PET/CT. Therefore, if an exact staging is required for critical management decisions, MRI or PET/CT should be employed whenever possible.