摘要:Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus (PMME) is an extremely rare disease with poor prognosis. We summarized and analyzed the characteristics of 17 PMME patients (with average age of 57.5 ± 10.3 years) who had received surgical resection in our center. The majority (13/17, 76.5%) of the patients were male. The percentage of patients with smoking and alcohol consumption was 41.2% and 23.5%, respectively. The preoperative diagnosis rate was 35.3%. Lymph node metastasis mainly involved the mid-lower mediastinal and upper abdominal area. Primary tumors that invaded beyond the submucosa layer (T2-T4) had much higher tendency of lymph node metastasis than those restricted to the submucosa layer (T1) (6/8, 75.0% vs. 3/9, 33.3%, p = 0.086). The 1-year and 5-year survival rate of the patients was 51% and 10%, respectively, with median survival time being 18.1 months. Survival analysis showed that TNM stage was a predictor for PMME prognosis (median survival time of 47.3 months vs. 8.0 months for stage I/II vs. stage III, respectively, p = 0.018), and multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed the independence of its prognostic value [HR (95% CI): 5.678 (1.125-28.658), p = 0.035].