The heel amelanotic melanoma, a rare subtype of skin cancer misdiagnosed as foot ulcer: A case report

Abstract

Amelanotic melanoma (AM) of the heel is a very rare subtype of malignant melanoma in which the tumour cells, unlike other types of melanoma, are characterised by little or no melanin pigmentation. AM resembles many benign dermatological complications that often lead to late diagnosis of lesions, poor prognosis, and occasionally misdiagnosis at an early stage of the disease. We report a case of a 73-year-old man with a heel ulcer who was admitted to Al-Zahra Hospital (Isfahan, Iran). Chronic osteomyelitis was considered the primary diagnosis, and several courses of antibiotics were prescribed for the patient. The ulcer failed to improve after 9 months' of therapy, and because of an increase in the size of the ulcer and the growth of two tumours in the right heel, a biopsy of the lesion was conducted. The pathology report confirmed invasive AM. The present report emphasises the necessity to biopsy all skin lesions, even with low clinical significance, to avoid wrong subsequent treatments, prevent a delay in diagnosis, reduce misdiagnosis, and improve the survival rate of patients.