Esophageal Carcinoma in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

On account of the rarity of esophageal carcinoma in this age group, there are no management guidelines for the pediatric oncologist. There is a strong need for collaborative efforts between adult and pediatric oncologists to establish cooperative diagnostic and therapeutic protocols for successful management of rare pediatric tumors like esophageal carcinoma.

Esophageal adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma in children and adolescents: Report of 3 cases and comprehensive literature review

“…A total of 19 cases of AC [3–15] and 21 of SCC [3, 15–26] in patients younger than 21 years were identified in the international literature (Appendices A and B). One of the patients with SCC was part of an epidemiologic study for which no specific patient data could be retrieved, and one AC case report was part of a journal’s correspondence section with no further objective validation of histology [27, 28].…”

“…The majority of cases reported in the literature consist of SCC [3, 15–27, 30–32] and AC [3–15]. Other malignant esophageal tumors reported in the literature consist of synovial cell sarcoma [33–35], melanoma [36], and “lymphosarcoma” (presumably lymphoma, according to current classifications) [37].…”

“…This number is likely to be higher since not all patients had been evaluated for this condition. Interestingly, about 63.2% of all AC patients had pre-existing conditions such as spinal palsy, hiatal hernia, esophageal atresia repair in infancy, history of foreign body ingestion, smoking, and obesity, all of which can be can be associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a risk factor for Barrett’s esophagus [5, 7, 8, 15]. …”

Granular cell tumor of the esophagus in an adolescent

“…Neoplasms are a relatively rare cause of vomiting and dysphagia in children, and esophageal cancers such as squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma are also rare in children4). Furthermore, GCT is relatively uncommon in adults and very rare in childhood23).…”

Pathology of Pediatric Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease

“…8.12 ) (Polit 1990 ). Twenty-four cases of esophageal carcinoma occurring in children ranging from 8 to 20 years old have been reported to date (Issaivanan et al 2012 ;Al Hilou et al 1984 ;Schettini et al 1998 ;Gangopadhyay et al 1997 ;Zotter et al 2001 ). The esophagus can also be involved by respiratory papillomatosis (Batra et al 2001 ).…”