Rapid progression of Barrett's esophagus to metastatic esophageal carcinoma in a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Barrett's esophagus is a common premalignant condition that predisposes to the development of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus through a process of transformation from metaplasia to dysplasia and then carcinoma. Periodic endoscopic surveillance with multiple biopsies is adopted by most physicians to detect dysplasia or early carcinoma. We report a case of an 80-year-old white man with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who had periodic endoscopic surveillance without any evidence of dysplasia or cancer, and who died of metastatic carcinoma of the esophagus only 18 months after his last upper endoscopic examination. We suspect that the relative immunosuppressed state resulting from his CLL was the major contributor to the rapid progression of the Barrett's esophagus to cancer. Patients with CLL have higher risk of second cancers, and several cases of aggressive carcinomas have been reported in association with CLL. This is the first case report of metastatic esophageal cancer arising in Barrett's esophagus in a patient with CLL. This case suggests that we might need a more aggressive surveillance strategy for Barrett's esophagus in patients with CLL or other immunocompromised conditions.
Hsu
C W
CW
Department of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Krevsky
B
B
Sigman
L M
LM
Thomas
R M
RM
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001471:Barrett Esophagus / Q000473:pathology*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000473:pathology*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D004945:Esophagoscopy; D004947:Esophagus / Q000473:pathology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D016609:Neoplasms, Second Primary / Q000473:pathology*