primary intracranial melanoma with early leptomeningeal spread: a case report and treatment options available

Primary CNS melanomas are rare and they constitute about 1% of all cases of melanomas and 0.07% of all brain tumors. These tumors are aggressive in nature and may metastasise to other organs. Till date less than 25 cases have been reported in the literature. The primary treatment for local intraparenchymal tumours is complete resection and/or radiotherapy and it is associated with good survival. However once there is disease spread to leptomeninges the overall median survival is around 10 weeks. In this case report we describe a primary intracranial melanoma without any dural attachment in 16-year-old boy who had radical excision of the tumor followed by radiotherapy who eventually had rapidly developed leptomeningeal disease and review the literature with a focus on the clinic pathological, radiological, and treatment options.