A comparison of wide local excision with abdominoperineal resection in anorectal melanoma.

Anorectal melanoma is a rare condition and its surgical management is controversial. Seventeen large case series from over the past 10 years were reviewed. The survival of patients treated by either abdominoperineal resection (APR) or wide local excision (WLE) was analysed according to the stage of the disease. Comparison of the survival of patients who underwent APR with those who underwent WLE showed no statistically significant advantage for either procedure in patients at all disease stages. APR should therefore only be performed when local excision is not possible or for palliative purposes.