A Case of Primary Upper Esophageal Small Cell Cancer underwent esophagectomy

Abstract

The extra-pulmonary small cell carcinoma is rare disease and most common site is the esophagus. The other sites are stomach, small and large intestine, pancreas, rectum, skin, cervix and larynx, etc. Primary small cell carcinoma of the esophagus is extremely rare with an incidence about 2% of ail esophageal cancer, and about 300 cases reported up till now in the literature. It is an aggressive tumor associated with a poor prognosis due to high rate of early distant metastasis. Almost all esophageal small cell carcinomas occur at the mid or lower esophagus but upper esophagus is rare, encountered for about 3% of all cases. In Korea, 3 cases were reported to locate at the upper esophagus. The optional management has not yet been established, and the role of the surgery has remained controversial. We reported a case of small cell carcinoma of the upper esophagus which underwent esophagectomy with curative intent as part of multimodality treatment.