CASE REPORT article

Front. Oncol.

Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Gastric and Esophageal Cancers

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1546806

Esophageal Malignant Melanoma with Lung Adenocarcinoma: A Rare Case of Dual Primary Cancers

Provisionally accepted
Li  YangLi Yang*Fan  YangFan Yang
  • Shapingba Hospital affiliated to Chongqing Universitity, Chongqing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus (PMME) is a rare type of gastrointestinal melanoma characterized by its aggressive nature and poor prognosis, with a 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. This study reports a case of a male patient with PMME complicated by primary lung adenocarcinoma. The main symptom of the patient was progressive dysphagia. Endoscopically, a polypoid mass was observed protruding into the lumen of the lower esophagus, with melanin pigmentation on the tumor surface, part of which was smooth and part showed ulceration. Enhanced chest and abdominal CT, as well as PET-CT, were consistent with esophageal malignancy, the left lung was consistent with lung cancer, and the right was considered metastatic. CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy and immunohistochemistry indicated left lung invasive adenocarcinoma. Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus is extremely rare, and the co-occurrence of lung adenocarcinoma as a double primary cancer is even rarer in clinical practice. The disease has a high degree of malignancy and poor prognosis, with diagnosis mainly relying on endoscopic examination, pathological histological morphology, and immunohistochemistry. Early detection and diagnosis are currently key to treating this disease.

Keywords: Melanoma, Lung Adenocarcinoma, primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus, Dual Primary Cancers, Treatment

Received: 17 Dec 2024; Accepted: 27 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Yang and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Li Yang, Shapingba Hospital affiliated to Chongqing Universitity, Chongqing, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.