Relationship of Esophageal Dysplasia to Associated Head and Neck Cancer in Patients with Esophageal Carcinoma

To investigate the relationship between esophageal dysplasiaand the development of both esophageal cancer (EC) and headand neck cancer (HNQ, a clinicopathological study was performedin 113 patients with EC who underwent esophagectomy withoutany preoperative treatment. The incidence of dysplastic lesionsin the resected esophagus was determined by a whole-organ stepwisecutting method. Synchronous or metachronous primary HNC waspresent in 25 patients, all of whom were male (Group A) andabsent in both 70 male patients (Group B) and 18 female patients.A total of 628 dysplastic lesions were found in 79 patients;67 of them were graded as carcinoma in situ (CIS) in 26 patients,44 as severe dysplasia (SD) in 16 patients, 182 as moderatedysplasia (MOD) in 59 patients, and 335 as mild dysplasia (MID)in 58 patients. The incidence of CIS, SD and MOD was low infemales, slightly increased in Group B, and markedly increasedin Group A, and the differences between Group A and Group Band between Group A and females were statistically significantThere was a sex difference in smoking and alcohol consumption,only a few smokers or drinkers being female, whereas there wasno significant difference between Groups A and B in smokingand alcohol consumption. CIS, SD or MOD in the esophagus appearto be closely related to both EC and HNC, and patients withEC associated with CIS, SD or MOD are at increased risk of developingHNC.