Fourteen patients with cholecystitis were treated by endoscopic placement of an endoprosthesis into the cystic duct. In these patients the administration of antibiotics had failed to change the clinical picture of cholecystitis. Clinical and ultrasonographic findings before and two months after stenting were compared. There was an improvement in abdominal pain in 9 out of 14 cases (64%); fever, present in 5 patients, disappeared in all. No clinical complications were observed. Sonographic findings in terms of gallbladder wall thickening and sludge present within the gallbladder improved in 57% and 88%, respectively. Our results indicate that this endoscopic procedure may be effective in the treatment of cholecystitis.

The prognosis of patients with T4 esophageal carcinoma is poor, and thus an effective treatment needs to be established. The present study assessed the effect of chemoradiotherapy (CRT), postoperative morbidity and mortality, and survival time in 41 patients with T4 esophageal carcinoma. Of these, 24 received CRT followed by surgery (group A) and the remaining 17 were treated with CRT alone (group B). Postoperative complications in group A were compared with 251 patients (group C) who underwent surgery without CRT during the same period. Postoperative complications were more frequent in group A than group C (29.2% vs 8.4%, P < 0.05). The overall median survival of group A was statistically longer than that of group B (13.8 months and 3.3 months respectively, P < 0.001). Complete histologic response (grade 3) was documented in 4 group A patients (16.7%). The overall median survival of grade 3 patients was statistically longer than the rest of group A (38.9 months vs 8.8 months, P < 0.05). The data confirm that chemoradiotherapy creates tumor regression in some patients and allows resection surgery in T4 esophageal carcinoma. Moreover, surgery with CRT confers a survival advantage in T4 esophageal carcinoma.

PIK3CA and TFRC mRNA represent prognostic factors in patients with ESCC. TFRC mRNA offers an independent prognostic factor, and expression may have clinically important implications.

Aggressive surgery including extensive lymph node dissection is considered necessary to improve the long-term survival of patients with esophageal carcinoma. While three-field lymph node dissection is widely performed for patients with thoracic esophageal carcinoma, cervical lymph node metastasis is uncommon. In order to reduce surgical stress, we have developed a two-step three-field lymph node dissection procedure for thoracic esophageal carcinoma. In the first-step operation, total thoracic esophagectomy through a right thoracotomy is performed. Mediastinal and abdominal lymph node dissection is performed synchronously. When recurrent nerve lymph node metastasis is pathologically positive, cervical lymph node dissection is performed about 3 weeks after the first operation (second step). Of 343 patients with carcinoma of the esophagus surgically treated in our department between 1990 and 2001, 146 underwent the operation described above. Three-field dissection was performed in 68 patients (group A), while two-field dissection was performed in 78 patients (group B). In the 68 group A patients, cervical lymph node metastasis was positive in 15 patients (22%). There was no marked difference in the onset of major complications between the two groups. The 5-year survival rate was 58% for group A and 61% for group B, not a statistically significant difference. In 78 of the 146 patients, it was possible to avoid cervical lymph node dissection without negatively affecting therapeutic outcomes. Two-step three-field lymph node dissection can reduce surgical stress of patients with good clinical outcome.

Primary adenocarcinoma of the esophagus is rare in Japan and, in most cases, arises from Barrett's esophagus epithelium. A 72-year-old man reporting heartburn and dysphagia and preoperatively diagnosed with adenosquamous carcinoma arising from Barrett's esophagus underwent thoracic esophagectomy and lymph node dissection in curative resection. Pathological diagnosis of the resected specimen showed adenosquamous carcinoma (coexistent adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma) invasive to the submucosal layer; metastasis was found in regional lymph nodes. Pathological staging was pT1bN1M0, stage II. Unfortunately, the man died of liver and lung metastasis 17 months postoperatively. To our knowledge, this rare case is only the fifth reported in the English literature on adenosquamous carcinoma arising from Barrett's esophagus.