Verrucous acanthosis--so-called verrucous carcinoma--of the esophagus

Verrucous carcinoma of the esophagus is a rare variant of squamous cell carcinoma with a slow, non-invasive growth without formation of metastases. Until today, only 8 cases of verrucous carcinoma of the esophagus have been reported in the literature. All of these tumours showed infiltration of adjacent mediastinal structures or even lymph node metastases. In therefore seems doubtful, wether these tumours were really verrucous carcinomas rather than squamous cell carcinomas of the papillary type. Several authors have questioned the malignant nature of these tumors recently. We report a case of a verrucous lesion of the esophagus the course of which we were able to observe over a period of several years. Transhiatal esophagectomy without thoracotomy is recommended as treatment of choice for verrucous tumours of the esophagus.