Esophageal Carcinosarcoma: Analysis of Clinical Features and Prognosis of 24 Cases and a Literature Review

Abstract

Objective: Esophageal carcinosarcoma (ECS) is a rare malignant tumor that accounts for only 0.5%-2.8% of all esophageal malignancies. As most current studies are case reports, the relationship between clinical features and prognosis remains controversial. Methods: We investigated the clinical features and prognosis of 24 patients with ECS in a single center from 2006 to 2018. There were 18 male and 6 female patients aged 52-82 years with a median age of 62.5 years. In addition, we included 9 studies on ECS from PubMed and a literature review. Results: The median follow-up time of the 24 patients was 70.5 (range, 10-156)months. The 3-year and 5-year survival rates were 83.3% and 70.8%, respectively. Among the 24 patients, none of the 10 (41.7%) stage T1 cancer patients had lymph node metastasis; however, lymph node metastasis was noted in 8 (57.1%) stage T2-4 cancer patients. The literature review revealed that 211 patients had a 5-year survival rate of 11.8%-68.2%, and 54.5%-95.8% study participants had early stage ECS. Although the information provided in the literature review is limited, it appears to be a characteristic of the early stage of the disease and predicts better prognosis when ECS is diagnosed, which is similar to the result of the current study. Conclusion: Our results indicate that ECS has a favorable prognosis, even among patients with early stage ECS who undergo radical esophagectomy with lymph node dissection. Because of the low incidence of ECS, further studies with more cases need to investigate this rare malignancy.

Carcinosarcoma of the Esophagus—A Diagnostic Challenge

“…Patients are treated for esophageal malignancies and traditionally planned for upfront resection without distant metastasis. 4,18 Limited literature is available on the role of adjuvant treatment and chemotherapy regimens, including DCF (docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil) and DP (docetaxel + cisplatin). 4 In our case, we performed a minimally invasive esophagectomy with standard 2-field lymphadenectomy done routinely at our center for esophageal carcinoma.…”

“…4,18 Limited literature is available on the role of adjuvant treatment and chemotherapy regimens, including DCF (docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil) and DP (docetaxel + cisplatin). 4 In our case, we performed a minimally invasive esophagectomy with standard 2-field lymphadenectomy done routinely at our center for esophageal carcinoma. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, and he was discharged on postoperative day 5.…”

Successful Resection of Retrobulbar Carcinosarcoma without Recurrence: A Case Report

“…The primary treatment for ovarian carcinosarcoma is cytoreductive surgery, followed by platinum-based chemotherapy, usually carboplatin-paclitaxel [3]. Cases of carcinosarcoma in the paranasal sinus [10], salivary gland [30], esophagus [31], and urinary bladder [4] treated with surgical resection combined with radiotherapy or chemotherapy have also been reported, although there is still a lack of consensus on the mode of therapy owing to the limited number of cases. Orbital carcinosarcoma is a rare disease entity.…”

Misdiagnosis of an elevated lesion in the esophagus: A case report

“…Seven (41%) of the T1b stage cases were found to have lymph node metastasis compared with none of the T1a stage cases. In 2021, Chen et al [ 10 ] reported that none of the ten ECS patients at T1 stage were found to have lymph node metastasis, with no report of T1 subtypes[ 10 ]. Since lymph node metastasis is related to prognosis, a detailed assessment is required before treatment.…”