Abstract
Background A 48-year-old Chinese woman presented with a 2-month history of progressive dysphagia for solids, and (less frequently) liquids. She had minimal weight loss and no family history of cancer.
Investigations Physical examination, conventional esophagogastroduodenoscopy, CT, fluorodeoxyglucose–PET, endoscopic ultrasonography, and histopathologic examination of excised tumor and biopsy specimens.
Diagnosis Primary malignant esophageal melanoma with submucosal infiltration but no distant metastasis.
Management Endoscopic polypectomy followed by near-total esophagectomy with esophagogastric anastomosis.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Chang F and Deere H (2006) Esophageal melanocytosis morphologic features and review of the literature. Arch Pathol Lab Med 130: 552–557
Vandewoude M et al. (2006) 18FDG–PET-scan in staging of primary malignant melanoma of the oesophagus: a case report. Acta Gastroenterol Belg 69: 12–14
Cadwell CB (1991) Unusual malignant neoplasm of the esophagus. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 101: 100–107
Sabanathan S et al. (1989) Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus. Am J Gastroenterol 84: 1475–1479
Joob AW et al. (1995) Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus. Ann Thorac Surg 60: 217–222
Sunagawa H et al. (2005) Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus successfully treated by an esophagectomy followed by systemic chemotherapy. Esophagus 2: 33–37
Yamazaki K et al. (1991) Ultrastructure of esophageal melanocytosis. Virchows Arch A Pathol Anat Histopathol 418: 515–522
Archer HA et al. (2000) Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus. Dis Esophagus 13: 320–323
Gollub MJ et al. (1999) Primary melanoma of the esophagus: radiologic and clinical findings in six patients. Radiology 213: 97–100
Antoch G et al. (2003) Whole-body dual-modality PET/CT and whole-body MRI for tumor staging in oncology. JAMA 290: 3199–3206
Reinhardt MJ et al. (2006) Diagnostic performance of whole body dual modality 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging for N- and M-staging of malignant melanoma: experience with 250 consecutive patients. J Clin Oncol 24: 1178–1187
Kumar R (2005) Fluorodeoxyglucose–PET in the management of malignant melanoma. Radiol Clin North Am 43: 23–33
Kumar R (2005) Clinical applications of fluorodeoxyglucose—positron emission tomography in the management of malignant melanoma. Curr Opin Oncol 17: 154–159
Sriram P et al. (2004) Endosonographic features of primary esophageal melanoma. Dig Endosc 16: 249–252
Chalkiadakis G et al. (1985) Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus. Ann Thorac Surg 39: 472–475
Kanavaros P et al. (1989) Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus arising in melanosis: histological, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural study of a case. Ann Pathol 9: 57–61
Wayman J et al. (2004) Intraluminal radiotherapy and Nd:YAG laser photoablation for primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus. Gastrointest Endosc 59: 927–929
Tessa M et al. (2005) Concomitant chemotherapy and external radiotherapy plus brachytherapy for locally advanced esophageal cancer: results of a retrospective multicenter study. Tumori 91: 406–414
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank A Thomas of Parkway Laboratory Services Ltd, Singapore, for her contribution of a histology slide, and J Wong for her editorial assistance.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ho, K., Cheng, J., Wee, A. et al. Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus with multiple esophageal lesions. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 4, 171–174 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep0761
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep0761
This article is cited by
-
Early-stage primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus detected simultaneously with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Esophagus (2012)
-
Multiple early-stage malignant melanoma of the esophagus with long follow-up period after endoscopic treatment: report of a case
Esophagus (2009)
-
Primary malignant melanoma of the lower oesophagus presenting with dysphagia and upper gastrointestinal bleeding
Cases Journal (2008)