A RESECTED CASE OF LEIOMYOSARCOMA OF THE ESOPHAGUS RECURRED 9 YEARS AFTER PRIMARY RESECTION

Abstract

This paper describes a relatively rare case of leiomyosarcoma of the esophagus recurred 9 years after the primary resection. A 59-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of dysphagia in April 1993. There was a previous history of undergoing operation for a leiomyosarcoma located in the upper third of the esophagus in August 1984. She had been suffering from dysphagia which started about 2 years after the first operation. Upper gastrointestinal series, esophagoscopy, MRI and angiography revealed a submucosal tumor located in upper third of the esophagus and resection of the thoracic and abdominal esophagus by blunt dissection was performed. The tumor was 3.0cm in diameter and histopathologically diagnosed as recurrent leiomyosarcoma of the esophagus of low grade malignancy. We made a comparative assessment of this tumor with primary tumor resected 9 years before, using DNA flow-cytometrical analysis, and it was revealed that the primary tumor showed aneuploidy and the recurred tumor diploidy. This paper also presents a total of 88 cases of the disease seen in the Japanese literature.