title: Slow growing flat-type primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus treated with cap-assisted EMR.
abstract: We report a rare case of flat-type primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus treated with endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR). A 64-year-old woman was referred for examination of a small pigmented lesion located in the mid esophagus. On endoscopy, the lesion exhibited almost no change in size over the year. Cap-assisted EMR was performed en bloc. The histopathological findings showed atypical melanocyte proliferation in the basal layer, spindle cells, and epithelioid cell proliferation with nuclear enlargement and a few mitotic figures. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of primary malignant melanoma. Immunostaining for S-100 protein and HMB-45 antibody were positive, and the Ki-67 index was low. The patient was discharged without additional surgical resection and/or chemotherapy. The patient had no symptoms and no signs of recurrence 20 months after EMR. There has been no report on a slow growing esophageal melanoma. It is difficult to estimate the malignant behavior of this case.
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Jichi Medical University, Saitama Medical Center, Omiya, Saitama, Japan. miyatani@omiya.jichi.ac.jp
authors: Hiroyuki
authors: H
authors: Miyatani
authors: Yukio
authors: Y
authors: Yoshida
authors: Shinya
authors: S
authors: Ushimaru
authors: Noriyoshi
authors: N
authors: Sagihara
authors: Shigeki
authors: S
authors: Yamada
mesh_terms: D004724:Endoscopy; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery