A Case of Basaloid Carcinoma of the Esophagus

Hideaki Shimizu, Iwao Ozawa, Takao Inada, Junichi Matsui, Shouichi Hishimuma, Kenjirou Kotake, Tadashi Ikeda, Yoshiro Ogata, Yasuo Koyama

Department of Surgery, Tochigi Cancer Center

The patient was a 71-year-old man. Endoscopic exploration for epigastric pain revealed an elevated lesion 10 mm in size in the posterior wall 30 cm distal from the incisor. The surface of the tumor was slightly irregular and its edge was covered with normal esophageal epithelium; the tumor was regarded as a 0-1 type in the new endoscopic classification. The histological findings in the biopsy specimen showed poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. The esophagus was resected. The histological findings of the tumor, measuring 13 by 10 mm, revealed basaloid carcinoma of which cancer nests expanded downward. Invasion was limited to the submucosal layer. Neither lymph node metastasis nor intraepithelial spread was demonstrated and no lymphatic or vessel involvement was found. The patient received postoperative chemotherapy and was alive without recurrence 8 months after the operation. This tumor was regarded as a typical type of an early stage of basaloid carcinoma of the esophagus. The prognosis for basaloid carcinoma in the early stage is likely to be better than that for the advanced stage, which has been considered to have a grave prognosis.

Key words
esophageal cancer, basaloid-(squamous) carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma

Reprint requests
Hideaki Shimizu Department of Surgery, Tochigi Cancer Center
4-9-13 Younan, Utsunomiya, 320 JAPAN

Accepted
October 9, 1991

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