Treatment and prognosis of primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus

BACKGROUND: Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus (PMME) is rare with high malignancy and poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between prognosis and clinicopathological characteristics of this disease. METHODS: A total of 9 patients with PMME were treated in Zhejiang Cancer Hospital between 2009 and 2019 retrospectively. According to 8th edition AJCC/UICC staging of cancers of the esophagus and esophagogastric junction, none of the patients were in stage I. However, 5 patients were in stage II, 2 patients were in stage III, and 2 patients were in stage IV at diagnosis. Five patients received surgery, while one of them received palliative resection. Three patients received postoperative chemotherapy; two of them (2/5) were diagnosed with recurrence. One patient in stage II received targeted therapy. One patient in stage III received first line chemotherapy and efficacy evaluation was stable disease (SD). Another one in stage III received biotherapy. One patient in stage IV received Chinese Medicine treatment and another received chemotherapy and palliative surgery. RESULTS: The 1-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates of stage II who received surgery were 50% (2/4) and 100% (4/4) respectively. The 2-year DFS and OS rates were 50% (2/4) and 75% (3/4), respectively. However, patients with stage III–IV have a very poor prognosis. The 1-year OS is 0%. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the small sample size, the statistic efficacy is low, but it can provide a certain theoretical basis for future research.