title: [Esophageal melanoma: report of two cases].
abstract: Esophageal melanomas correspond to 0.1 to 0.2% of esophageal tumors. We report two patients with the disease. The first patient is a 51 year-old woman pre-sentingwith dysphagia and weight loss. An upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed a polypoid ulcerated lesion in the middle third of the esophagus. The pathological study ofthe biopsy disclosed a malignant melanoma. The patient was subjected to an esophagectomy with a satisfactory postoperative evolution. Four months later, liver metastases were detected and the patient died eleven months after the operation. The second patient is a 59 year-old mole that consulted by dysphagia. An endoscopy showed a pigmented esophageal lesion whose pathological diagnosis was a malignant melanoma. The patient was subjected to an esophagectomy and sixteen months after surgery there was no evidence of relapse.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cirugía Digestiva Oncológica, Instituto Oncológico Fundación Arturo López Pérez, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Jean M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Butte
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Visscher
authors.forename: Hernán
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: DE LA Fuente
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meneses
authors.forename: Ana María
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Carrasco
authors.forename: Horacio
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Amaral
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Waugh
mesh_terms: D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D016629:Esophagectomy / Q000379:methods; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged