Primary malignant melanoma of esophagus: a case report and review of literature

Primary malignant melanoma of esophagus is a rare but highly aggressive neoplasm, with an incidence less than 0.2% of all primary esophagus neoplasms. There are no clinical differences from other forms of esophagus cancer. Because initial symptoms are nonspecific, the patients are usually diagnosed at a late stage. The prognosis is poor, and curative effect seems disappointed. Several reports suggest that most of patients die from distant metastases, and the 5-year survival rate is approximately 4.2%. This case report includes a review of the surgical pathology, clinical features and treatment of primary malignant melanoma of esophagus. This case report presents a 56-year-old female with primary malignant melanoma of esophagus, treated by surgical resection. Till now, the patient is still alive for 5 months without any chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunomodulatory therapy.