Leiomyosarcoma of the Esophagus: Report of two cases, one with associated squamous cell carcinoma

ABSTRACT

Two new cases of leiomyosarcoma of the esophagus, one with an associated squamous cell carcinoma, are presented with review of literature. lmmunohistochemical study of MDM2 gene is performed upon these cases, and one case revealed overexpression of the MDM2 protein, whereas the other case showed negative result. And the pathological significance of MDM2 gene expression in esophageal leimyosarcoma is discussed, as, to our knowlege, no esophageal leiomyosarcoma with confirmed MDM2 gene amplification has been reported in the literature, to date. Gross character of these tumors was polypoid. Microscopically, the tumors consisted of interlacing fascicles of elongated spindle-shaped cells. Mitoses could be found without difficulty, with more than five per 10 high power fields. The tumor cells of the both cases showed imunohistochemical reactivity for vimentin and actin. Electron microscopically parallel arrays of myofilaments with interspersed dense bodies in spindle cell components were confirmed. The itera-literature regarding the association of leiomyosarcoma with epithelial malignancy in the gastrointestinal tract as well as esophagus is reviewed, and we found that this is a highly unusual occurrences(3 cases reported so far).