Surgical Resection of a Solitary Pulmonary Metastasis from Basaloid Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Esophagus: A Case Report

Abstract

Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (BSCC) of the esophagus is a relatively rare variant of esophageal malignancies. It is regarded as a disease with a poor prognosis because of the high frequency of distant metastases. We managed a case of resected solitary pulmonary metastasis of BSCC of the esophagus in a 78-year-old female. We performed curative thoracic esophagectomy with three-field lymph node dissection for her disease. After two years and nine months, a thoracoscopic partial resection of the left lung was performed for the solitary pulmonary metastasis. At present, one year after the surgery, the patient is doing well without any recurrence. There have been few reports of case of resected pulmonary metastases. In addition, no treatment strategy for pulmonary metastases from BSCC of the esophagus has been established because of the limited number of cases. Additional cases are required to determine the treatment method.

Surgical resection and chemoradiotherapy for metachronous pulmonary metastasis of basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus

“…To the best of our knowledge, three successful cases of resected pulmonary BSCCE metastases without involvement of distant organs have been reported [4] , [10] , [11] . Surgical intervention may be considered in patients likely to tolerate operative therapy with solitary metachronous pulmonary BSCCE metastases.…”

“…At present, treatment regimens for BSCCE are usually similar to those employed for typical SCCE [4] , for one reason, because of the difficulty in pre-treatment diagnosis [12] . Cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy is concurrently used with conventional radiotherapy protocols developed for advanced or recurrent SCCE [13] .…”

“…In our institution, 1193 patients underwent oesophagectomy from 1986 to 2013, 50 (4.2%) of whom were diagnosed with BSCCE following pathological examination of resected specimens. Treatment strategies for conventional SCCE are currently commonly used to treat BSCCE [4] . Treatment guidelines for BSCCE and metastatic lesions are not yet established because of the limited number of studies.…”

Pulmonary metastasectomy for esophageal basaloid squamous cell carcinoma component at 66 months after esophagectomy

“…A literature and database research found three patients treated with pulmonary metastasectomy for solitary BSCC metastasis [ 22 – 24 ]; their clinicopathological data, along with our patient’s data, are summarized in Table 1 . These reported three patients received no adjuvant chemotherapy and survived without postoperative recurrence.…”