[A case of superficial esophageal cancer with an intramural metastasis to the gastric wall]

Abstract

Reported is a case of 61-year-old man with a superficial esophageal cancer that was associated with an intramural metastasis to the stomach. Examination of the upper G.I. tract revealed a slightly elevated lesion with an irregular surface at the left wall of the lower esophagus, and a large submucosal tumor with an ulcerous formation that had developed and had increased rapidly within a month. Thus a resection of the lower esophagus and a total gastrectomy were performed. Histopathologically, the tumor of the lower esophagus was determined as being a moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma with a deep invasion to the submucosal tissue. The submucosal tumor of the stomach also was found to be a moderately differentiated squamous carcinoma. Neither provided evidence, however, of a direct involvement of the gastric serosa may have metastasized from the neighboring lymph nodes or from other organs, nor of any continuous mucosal metastasis between the primary lesion of the esophagus and the submucosal tumor of the stomach. Judging from these findings, the case was diagnosed as an esophageal cancer with an intramural metastasis to the stomach.