Clinical manifestation of esophageal carcinosarcoma: a Taiwan experience

Carcinosarcoma of the esophagus is a rare neoplasm with both carcinomatous and sarcomatous components. This study aimed to investigate its clinicopathologic features and endoscopic characteristics. The data of patients diagnosed to have esophageal carcinosarcoma pathologically in the past 30 years (January 1976-December 2007) were reviewed. Of 3318 cases of esophageal malignancy, 12 were diagnosed as esophageal carcinosarcoma, with an incidence of 0.36%. All of the cases were male with a mean age of 62.3 years. Of the 12 tumors, 8 were polypoid type, and 4 were ulcerative type. In the endoscopic ultrasonography examination, the tumors show heterogeneous hypoechoic lesions with irregular outer margins and internal multicystic components. Four patients (33.3%) had previous head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that occurred metachronously. This is the first report about the characteristics of esophageal carcinosarcoma under endoscopic ultrasonography examination. The relationship between esophageal carcinosarcomas and head and neck cancer needs further investigation.