title: Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (BSCC) of the esophagus is a rare carcinoma with distinct characteristics. No standard treatment has been established. This retrospective study was designed to investigate the clinical and pathological characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of esophageal BSCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical data were retrospectively analyzed from 26 patients with pathologically confirmed esophageal BSCC who underwent transthoracic esophagectomy with lymphadenectomy between January 1995 and June 2010 at the Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College. Clinicopathologic data between BSCC patients and different histologic grades of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients were statistically compared by means of the χ(2) test or Fisher's exact test. The Kaplan-Meier and log-rank methods were used to estimate and compare survival rates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Microscopically, BSCC was characterized by a nesting, lobular, or trabecular arrangement of small crowded cells with scant cytoplasm. None of the histologic specimens taken at preoperative esophagoscopy were diagnosed as BSCC. The median survival time (MST) of the 26 patients was 29.0 months (95% confidence interval, 9.0-49.0), and the 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates were 73.1, 42.7, and 36.6%, respectively. The MST for BSCC patients was significantly lower than that of well-differentiated SCC patients (P = 0.024), but there were no significant differences between the MST for BSCC patients and that of moderately or poorly differentiated SCC patients (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BSCC of the esophagus is a rare but distinctive disease and is prone to be misdiagnosed by endoscopic biopsy. The prognosis is poorer than well-differentiated SCC, but similar to moderately or poorly differentiated SCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, 7 Raoping Road, Shantou 515000, Guangdong, China. chensb535176@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Shao-Bin
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hong-Rui
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: Geng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jie-Sheng
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Wei-Ping
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Di-Tian
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yu-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002281:Carcinoma, Basosquamous / Q000473:pathology*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D004947:Esophagus / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate