Esophageal Granular Cell Tumor: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Abstract

Granular cell tumors (GCTs) are soft tissue neoplasms that originate from Schwann cells. They occur predominantly in the oral cavity, skin, and breast tissues. Gastrointestinal GCTs are very rare, accounting for only eight percent of all GCTs, most of which are located in the esophagus. Endoscopic ultrasound has been a breakthrough in diagnosing GCTs because it provides precise information on the depth of tumor invasion, thus narrowing the differential diagnosis of subepithelial lesions in the esophagus. However, the definitive diagnosis requires histological confirmation of the lesion. Here, we report a case of esophageal GCT that was identified incidentally and removed by endoscopic mucosal resection.

Keywords: endoscopy; esophagus; granular cell tumors; submucosal resection.

Figure 1. Subepithelial lesion in the distal esophagus 30 cm from the oral cavity.

Figure 2. Endoscopic ultrasonography images revealing a well-demarcated, hypoechoic, homogenous lesion arising from the submucosal layer as depicted by white arrow (S).

M represents muscularis propria.

Figure 3. 1) Cap-assisted endoscopic mucosal resection of the lesion 2) Mucosal defect after EMR.

Figure 4. Histopathology revealed (A) the presence of a large round/polygonal cells with abundant cytoplasm and small uniform nuclei, and (B) IHC staining for S-100 was positive.