Erythema gyratum repens represents a rare facultative paraneoplasia. Quite often the dermatosis precedes tumor diagnosis. We report a 76-year-old male patient who initially presented with non-characteristic erythematous papules. After the diagnosis of an adenocarcinoma of the lower third of the esophagus the morphology of the dermatoses transformed into typically figurated erythemas with pronounced margins. Our case might support the hypothesis of cutaneous inflammation induced by

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... n of glutamine compounds in the skin. Tumor therapy was palliative by radiation. The erythema responded to a combined approach using topical corticosteroids and PUVA.