Fatal Course of Malignant Melanoma During Pregnancy with Dissemination to the Products of Conception

Abstract
The first case in Denmark of malignant melanoma metastasizing to the placenta and the fetal circulation is presented. The fact that shortly before becoming pregnant the patient had been treated with wide excision and regional lymph node dissection for a cutaneous melanoma of the right calf, gives further support to suspicions about a possible adverse effect of pregnancy on melanoma. In view of the high mortality in babies during their first year of life in the few similar reports available in the world literature, the authors would recommend the avoidance of pregnancy within 5 years of treatment of melanoma of any stage.