[Carcinosarcoma of the Esophagus That Presented as Esophageal Stenosis]

Esophageal carcinosarcoma is a rare malignant tumor. A 76-year-old man consulted near hospital about dysphagia. A gastrointestinal fiberscopy showed a stricture of the thoracic esophagus at approximately 34 cm from the incisor, and the macroscopic type of the tumor was 0-Ip. Biopsy results indicated carcinosarcoma. The patient underwent esophagectomy and regional lymphadenectomy with gastric tube reconstruction by laparoscopy-assisted surgery and thoracotomy. Pathological examination of the surgical specimen revealed that the majority of the tumor was composed of spindle-shaped atypical cells, but because a very small transitional area between squamous cell carcinoma and sarcoma was noted, a diagnosis of carcinosarcoma was made. The depth of invasion was small, and no region lymph node metastasis was detected. We classified the tumor as pT1b(SM)N0M0, pStage I. Immunohistochemically, the spindle-shaped sarcomatous cells displayed a posi- tive reaction to vimentin and cytokeratin AE1/AE3. Ki -67(MIB-1)labeling index was high. The patient was discharged after an uneventful postoperative course and remains well as an outpatient at his 6-month follow-up. We report this case with a review of the literature.