Primary malignant melanoma of the stomach: a rare entity

• Published in: BMJ case reports Vol. 13; no. 9; p. e234830
• Main Authors: Zechariah, Pradeep, Surendran, Suraj, Abraham, Vijay, Samarasam, Inian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 09.09.2020; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Publishing Group
• Series: Case report
• Subjects: Abdomen; Biopsy; Biopsy - methods; Case reports; Chemotherapy; Diagnosis, Differential; Dyspepsia - diagnosis; Dyspepsia - etiology; Dyspnea - diagnosis; Dyspnea - etiology; Endoscopy; Fatigue - diagnosis; Fatigue - etiology; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 - pharmacology; Gastrectomy - methods; Gastric cancer; gastrointestinal surgery; Gastroscopy - methods; Humans; Male; malignant disease and immunosuppression; Medical imaging; Medical prognosis; Melanoma; Melanoma - pathology; Melanoma - physiopathology; Melanoma - surgery; Metastasis; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Staging; pathology; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography - methods; Radiopharmaceuticals - pharmacology; Rare Disease; Skin cancer; Stomach; stomach and duodenum; Stomach Neoplasms - pathology; Stomach Neoplasms - physiopathology; Stomach Neoplasms - surgery; Tomography; Treatment Outcome; Tumors; stomach and duodenum; pathology; malignant disease and immunosuppression; gastric cancer; gastrointestinal surgery
• ISSN: 1757-790X; 1757-790X
• DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2020-234830

A 54-year-old man presented with easy fatiguability, dyspnoea on exertion and dyspeptic symptoms. On evaluation, he was found to have an ulcero-proliferative growth in the gastric fundus, the biopsy of which was malignant melanoma of the stomach. Further evaluation with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (18F-FDG PET-CT) scan showed operable disease with no focus of disease elsewhere. He was diagnosed as primary gastric melanoma and underwent radical total gastrectomy with adequate margins. His postoperative period was uneventful. Further adjuvant therapy was refused by the patient. At 6-month follow-up, an 18F-FDG PET-CT scan was done, which showed no evidence of disease. On follow-up at 1-year, he was alive and asymptomatic.