A Study of Superficial Esophageal Cancers from the Standpoint of Growth Pattern

Hironobu Kimura, Kohji Konishi, Yuji Tsukioka, Keiichi Muraoka, Kiichi Maeda, Kazuhisa Yabushita, Yoshitaka Kuroda, Masahiko Tsuji, Atsuo Miwa*

Deartments of Surgery and *Pathology, Toyama Prefectural Central Hospital

For a clinicopathological study of superficial esophageal carcinomas from the standpoint of their growth pattern, 48 lesions of 44 patients were analyzed. The mean diameter of all carcinomas was 3.8 cm. Submucosal tumors (4.1 cm, p<0.01) and mucosal tumors (3.7 cm, p<0.05) were significantly larger than intraepithelial tumors (1.7 cm). Macroscopically 0-I and 0-III types of carcinoma were predominantly submucosal carcinomas (mostly sm₃), whereas the O-II type was dominant in the depth of invasion variants. Lymph nodal involvement, which was not found with mucosal tumors or with submucosal tumors less than 2.0 cm, was more frequent when the tumor spread a distance equal to more than half of its circumference. There were two cases of multicentric-type superficial carcinoma. In one of them there were four cancerous lesions including one mucosal carcinoma and three intraepithelial carcinomas. Two cases of mucosal and five of submucosal superficial spreading-type carcinomas were experienced. In regard to the growth and progress of an extensively spreading type of superficial esophageal carcinoma, if the multiple cancerous lesions extend widely, they might yield a spreading-type carcinoma.

Key words
superficial esophageal carcinoma, superficial spreading-type of esophageal carcinoma, multicentric-type of esophageal carcinoma

Reprint requests
Hironobu Kimura Department of Surgery, Toyama Prefectural Central Hospital
2-2-78, Nishinagae, Toyama, 930 JAPAN

Accepted
September 11, 1996

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