A case of esophageal spindle cell carcinoma.

A 60-year-old man presented to our hospital with a chief complaint of dysphagia. Barium swallow examination showed a filling defect in the upper thoracic esophagus, and gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a polypoid tumor, 4 cm in size, accompanied by an ulcerative lesion at the top of the tumor, which indicated carcinosarcoma or squamous cell carcinoma (Fig. 1). Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed a hypervascular tumor almost completely occupying the lumen of the esophagus (Fig. 2, arrowhead), but neither direct invasion of the trachea nor lymph node swelling was apparent. Spindle cell component was found in the biopsy specimen. These findings suggested that the tumor was an esophageal spindle cell carcinoma of clinical staging T3 (Ad) N0M0, Stage II according to the UICC classification. The patient underwent subtotal esophagectomy with cervical, thoracic and abdominal lymph node dissection, and reconstruction using the stomach. Macroscopic examination of the resected specimen revealed that the tumor consisted of a Figure 1. Figure 2.