What should you know about melanoma stomach cancer?

Melanoma usually begins in pigment-producing cells, often in the skin, but it can be identified in an internal organ. A stomach lesion may therefore be metastatic melanoma or, rarely, melanoma that began in the stomach. Endoscopy with a biopsy helps identify the tumour, while scans look for disease elsewhere. The Stomach Cancer page covers cancers that arise from stomach lining cells, which is a different diagnosis from melanoma involving the stomach.

Possible symptoms include upper abdominal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, bleeding, feeling full quickly, tiredness, or Loss of Appetite. These features are not specific to melanoma and should be assessed in context.

Bring previous skin examinations, pathology reports, scan results, and treatment details to your specialist appointment. Ask whether the biopsy needs review by a specialist pathologist and whether the tumour should be tested for features that affect treatment. Depending on the findings, care may include Immunotherapy, Chemotherapy, HER2-Targeted Therapy when relevant testing supports it, or Stomach Removal Surgery for selected local problems. Nutrition support can help if eating, weight, or hydration has become difficult.

Seek urgent medical help for vomiting blood, black or tar-like stools, severe or persistent abdominal pain, repeated vomiting, fainting, confusion, or inability to keep fluids down. Contact your cancer team promptly for worsening appetite, new difficulty swallowing, increasing weakness, or rapid abdominal swelling. Emergency symptoms can reflect bleeding, blockage, dehydration, or another problem needing immediate treatment.

Ask whether the stomach lesion is confirmed melanoma, where the primary tumour may be, and what the scans show. Clarify whether testing could identify a treatment target, whether surgery is intended to remove disease or relieve a symptom, and how nausea, bleeding, appetite loss, and nutrition will be managed.