A 78-year-old Japanese man was referred for examination of multiple small nodules on his liver detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These small nodules were hyperintense on T1-weighted MRI, and were in hepatobiliary phase on gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid enhanced MRI. Five years earlier, he had undergone curative enucleation of his left eye for uveal melanoma. US-guided biopsy revealed that the liver nodules were metastases of melanoma. Pathological examination also showed infiltration of CD8 positive T lymphocytes. The metastatic nodules remained unchanged for more than 2 years and he was not further treated. This pathology and clinical course suggest that the systemic immune response of the host could suppress hepatic metastases of uveal melanoma.
Keywords: CD8 positive T lymphocyte; host immune response; liver metastasis; malignant melanoma; uveal melanoma.
Copyright © 2021 Takahashi, Tajiri, Kagoyana, Tanaka and Yasuda.