Esophageal carcinosarcoma in which the sarcomatous element has sloughed off: A case report

Introduction: Most esophageal carcinosarcoma (ECS) tumors present as a polypoid tumor that is continuous with the superficial lesion and suspended by a pedicle. Here, we report a case of ECS in which a polypoid lesion sloughed off before surgery.

Presentation of case: A 76-year-old man with dysphagia was admitted to our hospital. Esophagogastroscopy revealed a 20-mm polypoid tumor continuous with a superficial lesion and attached to the lesion by a thin pedicle in the mid-thoracic esophagus. Histopathological examination of the endoscopic biopsy showed that the superficial lesion was a moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma and that the polypoid tumor contained a sarcomatous element. He was diagnosed with ECS and underwent radical esophagectomy with three-field lymph node dissection. In the resected specimen, no polypoid tumor was found, and only a superficial lesion was observed. The histopathological findings revealed only squamous cell carcinoma, and the pathological diagnosis was esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, pT1bN0M0, pathological stage I. The patient was discharged from the hospital 22 days after surgery and did not experience any complications. He is currently alive and remained cancer-free for three years since surgery was performed.

Discussion: Due to the distinctive configuration in which the polypoid lesion was connected to the superficial cancerous lesion by a very thin pedicle, researchers suggested that the polypoid tumor, which consisted of a sarcomatous element, was sloughed off before surgery.

Conclusion: We encountered a rare case of ECS in which the sarcomatous element sloughed off prior to surgical resection.