We have presented 2 cases of disseminated malignant melanoma with bone marrow metastases which are, so far as we have been able to find, the ninth and tenth cases reported in the literature. In Case 1 the cytoplasm of the tumor cells contained abundant dark pigment, whereas in Case 2 the pigment deposits were rare. A study of the morphology of the bone marrow smears reveals that the melanoma cell usually differs from other tumor cells by the presence of deposits of dark pigment in the cytoplasm. The amelanotic type would not be easily identifiable since it is without pigment. Caution is needed not to confuse the melanoma cell with the reticulo-endothelial cell. A study of other patients with malignant melanoma is now in progress.

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© 1952 by American Society of Hematology, Inc.
1952
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