A Case of Recurrence in the Cervical and Upper Mediastinal Lymph Nodes after Operation of Esophageal Mucosal Cancer

Masahiro Ishigooka*, Jun Ikeue, Yasuyuki Takahashi

Department of Surgery, Douhoku Kin-Ikyo Ichijodouri Hospital
*Department of Surgery, Kin-Ikyo Chuo Hospital

We report a case of recurrence in the cervical and upper mediastinal lymph nodes four years after resection of esophageal mucosal cancer. A 53-year-old male patient had undergone thoracoabdominal subtotal esophagectomy with lymph node dissection (RII) for IIc type esophageal mucosal carcinoma in 1988. Histopathological findings were as follows: Moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, 0-IIc type, 0.7×O.6 cm in size. m₃ in depth, no lymphatic and vascular invasion, no lymph node involvement. Four years after the operation, recurrence was strictly examined upper mediastinal lymph nodes swelling was detected by CT scanning. At that time he complained of sever hoarseness. We treated him by chemo-radio therapy, but he died of multiple liver and lung metastasis after six months. It is generally considered that the prognosis of esophageal mucosal cancer is good. We treated this patient surgically, but recurrence or metastasis of the cancer was found. Therefore we believe that it is very important in the future to predict in which kinds of patients with esophageal mucosal cancer, especially m₃ in depth, there is a trend toward recurrence or metastasis.

Key words
esophageal mucosal cancer, lymph node metastasis of esophageal cancer, recurrence in lymph node of esophageal cancer

Reprint requests
Masahiro Ishigooka Department of Surgery, Kin-Ikyo Chuo Hospital
10-2 Fushiko, Higashi-ku, Sapporo, 065 JAPAN

Accepted
April 3, 1996

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