Progress in the treatment of esophageal neuroendocrine carcinoma (Review)

Esophageal neuroendocrine carcinoma (ENEC) is a rare and highly aggressive gastrointestinal malignancy with a markedly worse prognosis compared with other pathological types of esophageal cancer. The present study aimed to provide a systematic review of the pathological features, diagnostic strategies and advances in stratified treatment of ENEC, with a focus on current therapeutic approaches. The management of ENEC requires a multimodal approach. Among these modalities, surgery remains the cornerstone for achieving long-term survival. For patients with initially unresectable disease, neoadjuvant therapy can convert cases to a resectable status. Additionally, combined chemoradiotherapy has been demonstrated to markedly improve survival rates. Beyond conventional treatments, the potential of targeted therapy in combination with chemotherapy has been suggested, and the synergy between immune checkpoint inhibitors and either radiotherapy or targeted drugs has achieved long-term remission in certain cases.