[CDDP+CPT-11 therapy is useful for stage IVb esophageal small cell carcinoma]

The patient was a 59-year-old man who suffered from discomfort during swallowing. An esophageal small cell carcinoma was pointed out at another clinic by gastrointestinal fiberscopy. He was hospitalized in our hospital on May 15, 2003. He was diagnosed as esophageal small cell carcinoma with mediastinum lymph node, pancreas and multiple liver metastasis by CT scan. Then he was administered CDDP+CPT-11 therapy. CDDP 60 mg/m2 (day 1) and CPT-11 60 mg/m2 (day 1, 8, 15)were infused once a week for 3 weeks followed by 1-week interval as one cycle. At one cycle after the first infusion therapy, primary tumor, pancreas and liver metastasis were markedly reduced. His quality of life was greatly improved. No particular toxic events occurred. Five cycles after the first infusion therapy, he was diagnosed with a lymph node recurrence around the pancreas on January 19, 2004. Then we started CBDCA and VP-16 combination therapy as second-line chemotherapy. But obstructive jaundice and skull metastasis occurred, and he died on July 21, 2004.