Abstract
A primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus is rare and difficult to find in it's early stage. We report a case of a 52years old male admitted due to hematemesis from Mallory-Weiss tear after drinking. The endoscopy showed a dendrit formed shaped lentigo-like lesion at the mid portion of the esophagus. Biopsy was taken and histological studies revealed spindle shaped dysplastic melanocytes with prominent nucleoli. Distal esophagectomy and cervical anastmosis with stomach was performed. In the resected specimen, the tumor was localized in basal layer of mucosal epithelium. No skipped leison nor lymphnodes metastasis was detected. Pathologic study confirmed the diagnosis of malignant melanoma in situ. Tumor cells were positive for immunohistochemical stain using S-100 protein and HMB-45 antimelanoma antibodies. The patient was given no postoperative chemotherapy and alive at 15 months after the operation without recurrence.
