Melanoblasts in vaginal mucosa.Origin for primary malignant melanoma

C mary growth in the vagina?Although sporadic reports of such growths appear in the literature:.4 , 5 9 7 a prominent textbook on gynecological pathology10 contains the statement that it does not.Hertig and Gore6 stated that the type of cell in the vagina from which these tumors arise is unknown.Even though it is obvious that malignant melanoma occasionally involves the vagina -and a study of these cases may give evidence for or against a primary origin -we feel that another approach is to study the vaginal tissue for the presence of non-neoplastic melanoblasts.If such cells are present, then, theoretically, a malignant melanoma may arise from them.This paper concerns such a study.