[Caustic burn and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus]

Adenocarcinoma of the esophagus is found almost exclusively at the level of the cardia. It is exceptional to find it in the middle part of the esophagus in the absence of involvement of the cardia. In the long term, caustic burns of the esophagus may favour malignant degeneration. The latter is always squamous cell carcinoma. In our patient, a 28 year old man, a cylindrical carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus was detected four years after the ingestion of concentrated sodium hypochlorite. The caustic burn followed by carcinoma were of special significance in this case owing to the development of an adenocarcinoma.