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In May 1940 a 32 year old woman with a malignant melanoma 3 cm. in diameter and situated in the pretibial region had the lesion surgically excised on the mixed tumor service of the Memorial Hospital. An elective groin dissection six weeks later revealed no deposits of metastatic melanoma in regional nodes. In September 1942 three cutaneous melanotic nodules were excised from the same leg and thigh. In September 1943, after a dog bite, the patient received 14 injections of rabies vaccine. In April 1948 two additional melanotic nodules were removed from the skin on the ipsolateral side. At this writing, two years later, there had been no further evidence of recurrence.
The long latent period of 5½ years intervening between the appearance of multiple metastases was so extraordinarily unusual that it excited considerable speculation among various members of the clinic staff concerning the cause of this inhibition. In a