Tumor spread and outcome of treatment in primary esophageal small cell carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
The most effective treatment for patients with esophageal small cell carcinoma has not yet been established because of the overall extremely poor prognosis regardless of the mode of treatment. The role of esophagectomy has been controversial in the management of patients with this disease.


METHODS
The clinicopathologic characteristics of 13 patients with primary esophageal small cell carcinoma were retrospectively studied and the prognostic significance of various factors with respect to esophagectomy were evaluated.


RESULTS
Lymph node metastases and distant metastases were found at the time of presentation in 92.3 and 46.2%, respectively. Two of nine patients treated by surgical resection for local-regional disease survived >5 years after radical esophagectomy with a projected 5-year survival rate of 22.2%. The remaining 4/13 patients were treated by nonsurgical modalities, but died of the disease within 10 months. A significant difference (P < 0.05) was detected between the survival curves of the two groups of patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Radical esophagectomy may be an effective treatment modality in improving survival and the odds of a cure in patients with local-regional small cell carcinoma of the esophagus.
Nishimaki
T
T
The First Department of Surgery, Niigata University School of Medicine, Japan.
Suzuki
T
T
Nakagawa
S
S
Watanabe
K
K
Aizawa
K
K
Hatakeyama
K
K
D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016629:Esophagectomy; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome