Curatively resected primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus: Report of a case

We report herein a rare case of primary esophageal malignant melanoma in a 49-year-old Japanese woman who presented with a 3-week history of dysphagia. Esophagogram and esophagoscopy demonstrated a polypoid tumor in the upper to mid-thoracic portion of the esophagus, and a radical subtotal esophagectomy was performed through a right thoracotomy. Histological and immunohistochemical studies proved this tumor to be a primary esophageal malignant melanoma. She received no postoperative adjuvant therapy and no signs of recurrence have been clinically observed for the 22 months since her operation.     

Primary melanoma of the esophagus

A case of primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus is described. Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus is rare, reaching only 0.1% of all esophageal tumors. The differential diagnosis is often difficult: the clinical features are similar to those of squamous cell carcinoma and, because of its potentially widespread submucosal growth, the bioptic and/or cytologic examinations are frequently negative. The surgical approach with esophagectomy is actually the treatment of choice. However, the prognosis is poor with a 5-year survival of 4.2%.     

Pseudosarcoma of the Esophagus

Polypoid lesions of the esophagus occur infrequently and may be benign or malignant. One malignant polypoid tumor, pseudosarcoma, appears to be a distinct pathological entity; the polypoid portion is composed of sarcomatous spindle cells and the base of the polyp shows in situ or invasive squamous cell carcinoma. A patient with this lesion is described and the 16 previously reported patients are reviewed. The results indicate that local resection is inadequate; radical esophagectomy is required for cure.     

Esophageal carcinosarcoma with basaloid squamous cell carcinoma and osteosarcoma

Carcinosarcoma of the esophagus is a rare malignant neoplasm. It often presents as a large intraluminal polypoid tumor with early onset of symptoms resulting in prompt diagnosis. We present here the first case of a carcinosarcoma of the esophagus that had a basaloid squamous cell carcinoma component in addition to the osteosarcoma and without a transitional zone. A 57-year-old man was diagnosed with a polypoid tumor in middle third of the esophagus causing dysphagia. Local recurrence and solitary pulmonary metastasis occurred 16 and 30 months after initial excision of the tumor, respectively. Prompt and aggressive surgical resection is mandatory for carcinosarcoma of the esophagus.     

The surgical management of synchronous hepatocellular carcinoma and thoracic esophageal carcinoma

A 73-year-old man was hospitalized with pathologically documented hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis, and a 5.0-cm tumor located in the left lobe was resected by a left lateral segmentectomy. At the same time, metastatic squamous cell carcinoma was identified by frozen section in a perigastric lymph node in the lesser omentum. Intraoperative endoscopy revealed a 1.0-cm erosive lesion in the thoracic esophagus that was subsequently found to be primary squamous cell carcinoma. Seven weeks later, a transthoracic subtotal esophagectomy with substernal, cervical esophagogastrostomy was performed. Twenty-two months after these resections there has been no recurrence of either the hepatocellular or esophageal carcinomas.     

Esophagectomy via left thoracotomy for esophageal cancer with situs inversus totalis: Report of a case

We report a case of successful esophagectomy via a left thoracotomy for esophageal cancer in a 57-year-old Japanese man with situs inversus totalis. An upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, performed to investigate the cause of dysphagia, revealed a 7-cm irregular shaped mass occupying more than half of the circumference of the middle-third of the esophagus. Computed tomography (CT) showed enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes and situs inversus totalis. Histological examination of a biopsy specimen revealed squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Although esophagectomy is usually performed through a right thoracotomy because of the left position of the aortic arch, we performed successful subtotal esophagectomy with radical lymph node dissection through a left thoracotomy. During surgery, we modifi ed the standard surgical technique in a mirrorimage fashion to complete the esophagectomy safely. The patient had an uneventful postoperative course.     

Primary malignant melanoma of the rectum: Report of a case

We describe herein a rare case of primary malignant melanoma of the rectum in an 85-year-old woman. The patient presented with intermittent rectal bleeding, and a colonoscopy revealed an ulcerated polypoid mass in the rectum, located 5 cm from the anal verge. The lesion was histologically characterized by solid growths of small round cells with scanty cytoplasm and prominent nucleoli. Although no melanin pigment was found in the tumor cells, they were immunohistochemically positive for HMB-45, a monoclonal antibody highly specific for malignant melanoma. Thus, HMB-45 proved very useful to establish a diagnosis of amelanotic malignant melanoma of the rectum.     

Esophageal carcinosarcoma

Carcinosarcoma is an uncommon malignancy of the esophagus that presents as a bulky intraluminal polypoid lesion of the esophagus. Histologically, both carcinomatous and sarcomatous components are seen. Because of accelerated intraluminal growth, esophageal carcinosarcoma often presents relatively early. This report describes a 64-year-old man with carcinosarcoma who was successfully treated with an esophagectomy. As in typical squamous cell carcinoma, early detection and treatment by surgical resection are needed to produce significant long-term survival.     

Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus

Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus is rare, and its symptoms are similar to those of squamous cell carcinoma. This tumor tends to be polypoid, pediculated, and irregular. Hematogenic and lymphogenic metastases are common. Surgical resection with reestablished continuity of the gastrointestinal tract is the treatment of choice, and postoperative irradiation may be useful. Despite these measures, however, the prognosis is poor, with a 5-year survival of 4.2%. The case of a 47-year-old man with esophageal melanoma is described, and a review of the world literature is presented.     

Barrett's esophagus. Comparison of benign and malignant cases.

Using strict criteria for diagnosis, 23 patients having benign Barrett's esophagus, and 20 patients with adenocarcinoma arising in this epithelium have been analyzed. Evidence supports severe gastroesophageal reflux as a cause of Barrett's esophagus. Successful antireflux surgery leads to stabilization and possibly regression of the dysplasia in Barrett's epithelium, and can be followed by squamous epithelial regeneration in some. Antireflux surgery is advocated in all patients with Barrett's esophagus demonstrated to have abnormal reflux regardless of symptoms. The malignant potential of the columnar epithelium is higher in men who smoke, in patients with intestinal-type metaplasia who continue to have severe reflux, and in patients who develop dysplasia. In those with high grade dysplasia, the probability of carcinoma is high and esophagectomy should be seriously considered in the hopes that the pathological stage of the neoplasm is still favorable.     

Micro-invasive squamous cell carcinoma arising in a pre-existing intraventricular epidermoid cyst

Summary The authors report the case of a 67-year-old woman with primary micro-invasive squamous cell carcinoma located in the lateral ventricle and originating from an epidermoid cyst. Radiological and histological features of the neoplasm are described and the relevant literature is studied briefly.Two consecutive surgical specimens were studied by light microscopy. In the histological sections of the subtotally removed material of the first operation, the cyst wall was layered by epithelium — the same as expected in an epidermoid cyst — and showed foci with mild to moderate dysplastic changes. Theses changes did not reach up to the degree of a carcinoma. However, because the cyst could not be resected totally, the possibility of a squamous cell carcinoma was considered in the differential diagnosis. In the present case, the diagnosis was firmly established in a second surgical specimen obtained ten months after the first operation. Now, the tumour proved to be a primary squamous cell carcinoma, which exhibited severe dysplastic changes.Primary squamous cell carcinoma of brain is extremely rare. To our knowledge, only 20 such tumours with pre-existing epidermoid cyst have been reported in the central nervous system. The intriguing observation in this case is a three year recurrence free survival following the subtotal removal of the malignant neoplasm at the second surgery, without postoperative radiotherapy.     

Clinical and Pathological Characteristics of Carcinosarcoma of the Esophagus: Report of Four Cases

Carcinosarcoma of the esophagus is a rare malignant neoplasm composed of both carcinomatous and sarcomatous elements. Four out of 850 patients with carcinoma of the esophagus or the cardiac portion of the stomach undergoing operation at Capital Hospital, Beijing, had carcinosarcoma of the esophagus. They ranged from 50 to 58 years old, but only 45% of all 850 patients with carcinoma were in the age group from 51 through 60 years old. All 4 patients with carcinosarcoma of the esophagus were men.On barium swallow esophagogram, the 4 patients had a characteristic intraluminal polypoid lesion in the middle third of the esophagus. Such lesions of the esophagus also can occur in patients with benign fibrovascular polyps, leiomyoma, and the polypoid form of esophageal carcinoma and esophageal melanoma. The last two can be differentiated from carcinosarcoma only by pathological examination after excision.After radical excision and esophagogastrostomy, the 4 patients were followed up for 19, 4, 4, and 3 years. They were in good condition without recurrence.     

Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus

Three cases of primary malignant melanoma of the oesophagus are presented and the literature is briefly reviewed. This rare disease affects predominantly males in the sixth decade of life or later and the clinical and radiologic features are indistinguishable from those of more common oesophageal carcinomas. The tumours are often polypoid, located mainly in the lower two-thirds of the esophagus, and their histologic features resemble those of lentigo maligna melanoma, but with more aggressive biologic behavior. Because of the potential for extensive intramucosal involvement, multicentricity and high local recurrence rate, surgical treatment requires radical excision with a much greater margin than for the common squamous cell carcinomas. Though the outlook is poor, surgery is the favoured treatment with palliative or curative intent, with a 5-year survival rate of 4.2%. Radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immunostimulation currently serve mainly as palliative or adjunctive measures.     

Primary malignant melanoma of the urethra: a clinicopathologic analysis of 15 cases

The clinical and pathologic features of 15 primary urethral melanomas occurring in patients (nine women and six men) age 44 to 96 years (mean age, 73 yrs) are described. In the men the tumor involved the distal urethra. In eight women it involved the distal urethra, usually the meatus; both the distal and proximal urethra were involved in one woman. The tumors were typically polypoid and ranged from 0.8 to 6 cm (mean, 2.6 cm) in maximum dimension. A vertical growth phase was present in all tumors, with a prominent nodular component in seven of them. A radial growth phase was seen in nine tumors. The depth of invasion ranged from 2 to 17 mm. The tumors had diffuse, nested, storiform, or mixed growth patterns. The neoplastic cells typically had abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm, large nuclei with prominent nucleoli, and brisk mitotic activity. Melanin pigment was seen in 12 tumors but was conspicuous in only six. At the time of diagnosis, 13 tumors were confined to the urethra and two patients had lymph node metastasis. Nine patients died of disease 13 to 56 months after initial diagnosis and treatment, and one patient had a local recurrence at 4 years and subsequently died of sepsis 1 year later. Three patients were alive and well at 11 months, 23 months, and 7 years. One patient died at the time of the initial operation, and one died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm at 3 years without evidence of melanoma at autopsy. Primary malignant melanomas of the urethra, one fifth of which are amelanotic, must be included in the differential diagnosis of a number of primary neoplasms that involve the urethra, including transitional cell carcinoma, sarcomatoid carcinoma, and sarcomas. Conventional prognostic factors, such as depth of invasion or tumor stage, do not seem to play as important a role in predicting survival as the mucosal location and the nodular growth present frequently in these tumors.     

The role of surgical therapy for esophageal microcytoma. Experience of there clinical cases and results analysis

Small cell carcinoma of the esophagus is a rare tumor. It was described for the first time in 1952 by McKeown and 200 cases have been reported till now. Because of its similarity with small cell carcinoma of the lung, the treatment of this tumor is controversial. In our Institute we treated three patients with small cell carcinoma of the esophagus. All subjects underwent subtotal esophagectomy with esophagogastroanastomosis through laparotomic and thoracotomic approach. Histologically, the tumor was classified as pure SCEC in one patient and mixed SCEC in the other two. The stage I and II patients received operation as single treatment. The two patients are alive and disease free 219 and 193 months after surgery. The third patient, classified at stage III, underwent postoperative chemotherapy but local and distant recurrence was observed 11 months after surgical resection. He was submitted to a second choice chemotherapy, but he died 24 months after the operation. The long-term survival observed in our two patients treated by surgery is the longest described in literature. Our experience seems to demonstrate that an early diagnosis and oncological radical resection, may be helpful in the long-term prognosis even in presence of a very aggressive neoplasm.     

An analysis of the factors contributing to a reduction in the incidence of pulmonary complications following an esophagectomy for esophageal cancer

Background Pulmonary complications occur most frequently following a transthoracic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer and would get to be lethal occasionally. In this study, we sought to determine the effect of respiratory physiotherapy, corticosteroid administration, and the use of the video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) esophagectomy with a small thoracotomy incision, on the incidence of pulmonary complications following a transthoracic subtotal esophagectomy. Materials and methods Approximately 184 patients who had undergone a right transthoracic subtotal esophagectomy for squamous cell carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus were studied. To reduce the incidence of pulmonary complications, we performed clinical trials using respiratory physiotherapy, corticosteroid administration, and the VATS-esophagectomy surgical technique. Results The independent risk factors for pulmonary complications in the multivariate logistic regression analysis were not administering corticosteroids, blood loss greater than 630 ml, and not providing respiratory physiotherapy. In addition, the use of a small surgical incision, less than 10 cm, for the thoracotomy had no effect on the prevention of pulmonary complications. Conclusions We concluded that patients with thoracic esophageal cancer could undergo a three-field dissection in comparative safety if the patients were provided with corticosteroid medication in the perioperative period, if the patients received sufficient respiratory physiotherapy, and if surgical blood loss was reduced.     

Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus treated with subtotal esophagectomy: a case report

Background

Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus (PMME) is a rare disease with a poor prognosis. There are few reports of early-stage cases in which tumor invasion reached the lamina propria or muscularis mucosae, as in the present case. A standard treatment for early-stage PMME has not yet been established. The present study aimed to summarize previous reports and to discuss the indications for surgical treatment of early-stage primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus.

Case presentation

A 70-year-old woman with PMME was referred to our hospital. She underwent thoracoscopic and laparoscopic subtotal esophagectomy with lymphadenectomy. The resected specimen showed melanocytosis and junctional activity. Melanoma-specific antigens melan-A, S-100, and HMB45 were detected by immunohistochemical staining. The pathological diagnosis was pT1a-MM, pN0, pM0, and pStage IA. She remains alive without evidence of recurrence 39 months later.

Conclusion

Subtotal esophagectomy with regional radical lymphadenectomy could be recommended to patients with early-stage primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus, and curative surgical resection could improve their prognosis.

     

Carcinosarcoma of the esophagus--pattern of recurrence.

Carcinosarcoma of the esophagus is a rare malignant neoplasm, predominantly affecting men in their seventh decade of life. While presenting symptoms and anatomic location of squamous cell and carcinosarcoma of the esophagus are similar, the latter often presents as a large intraluminal polypoid mass on barium esophagram. The more favorable prognosis associated with carcinosarcoma versus other esophageal neoplasms has been attributed to early onset of symptoms, resulting in prompt diagnosis, and a lower propensity for tumor invasion. We report the case of an elderly woman presenting with dysphagia who was initially diagnosed with esophageal leyomyosarcoma. Final tumor pathology showed esophageal carcinosarcoma.