A Case of Primary Malignant Melanoma of the Esophagus

Abstract

A 63-year-old female presented with progressive dysphagia for 1 month. CT scan of the chest demonstrated esophageal narrowing due to extrinsic compression at the lower esophageal (Fig. 1). There was no conspicuous lymphadenectasis in the superior and middle mediastinum. Endoscopy identified a large, easy bleeding pigmented polypoidal lesion with superficial anabrosis located 30–35 cm from the incisors (Fig. 2).The tumor was removed via a left thoracotomy. In gross appearance, the resected specimen measured 3.5 9 2.5 9 1.5 cm in size (Fig. 3). A definite diagnosis was made by histologic section (Fig. 4) and immunohistochemical examination with positive results of HMB45 and S100 protein. The clinical stage was finally classified as IIb (T1N1M0). After recovering from operation, the patient was sent to the oncology department to receive radiotherapy and chemotherapy. One year and five months after the surgery, an endoscopy was operated on this patient, and the result showed that there was no manifestation of tumor recurrence in the anastomotic area (Fig. 5). Discussion