Home > E. Pathology by systems > Digestive system > Esophagus > esophageal melanoma
esophageal melanoma
ICD-O:8720/3
Wednesday 9 February 2011
Malignant melanoma in the oesophagus is much more commonly metastatic than primary.
Primary oesophageal melanomas are usually polypoid and are clinically
aggressive lesions. They are believed to arise from a zone of atypical junctional proliferation of melanocytes and such a proliferation is often
present adjacent to the invasive tumour, although it may not be observed in
advanced disease.
The histology of the invasive component is indistinguishable from cutaneous melanoma. Growth is typically expansile rather than infiltrative.