Gastric metastases of a malignant melanoma

ABSTRACT

Malignant melanoma accounts for around 5% of all malignant skin tumors. It is considered one of the most aggressive neoplasms due to its high metastasizing capacity. The most common sites of metastasis are peri-tumor lymph nodes, lung, brain and liver. The digestive tract is not a common site of metastasis. When involved, the small intestine is the organ most commonly affected. The stomach is a rare site of metastasis, found in only 7% percent of the cases. We report a case of a 72-year-old patient with a history of malignant melanoma who presented with acute epigastric pain. Enterotomography, upper endoscopy and additional biopsies confirmed the diagnosis of gastric metastases. (AU)