PURPOSE: To analyze the clinicopathological features and outcome of
patients with pathologically proven superficial
squamous cell carcinoma of the
esophagus .
METHODS: A total of 234 consecutive cases of esophageal
carcinoma in a 15-year period were reviewed.
RESULTS: Superficial
esophageal cancer was found in five
patients (2.1%). They were four
men and one
woman and the mean age was 52.5 years.
Smoking and alcohol were the main
risk factors .
Achalasia due to
Chagas disease occurred in one
patient and a second primary
tumor developed in the
larynx in another
patient . Four
patients underwent
esophagectomy and one
patient received
chemoradiotherapy . The histopathologic
diagnosis was of
squamous cell carcinoma in all cases. Intramucosal
tumor (Tis) was identified in three cases and superficially invasive
carcinoma in two cases. Four
patients are free of
disease with
survival times of two, four, six and nine years. The
patient who developed
laryngeal cancer died six years after
esophagectomy .
CONCLUSION: Long-term
survival in
patients with
esophageal cancer is related to
early diagnosis . Therefore, a less aggressive surgical approach, such as endoscopic resection, may be a good option for these
patients , if depth of
tumor invasion can be accurately predicted by the new imaging tools.