[Combined treatment of esophageal small cell carcinoma with radiation and chemotherapy].

A 61-year-old male complaining of dysphagia and precordial chest pain was admitted to hospital. A series of upper G.I. examinations revealed an ulcerative tumor, approximately 8 cm in diameter, in the esophagus. A biopsy of a specimen led to the histological diagnosis of a small cell carcinoma (oat cell type). The cells were uniformly argentaffin-negative (Masson-Fontna) and many contained numerous tiny argyrophylic granules (Grimelius). Therefore, a combined therapy of radiation (70 Gy) and CDDP (total dose: 210 mg) was used to treat the lesion, and the disappearance of the mass shadow, as well as no narrowing of the esophagus, was noted without residual ulceration, indicating a complete response. Four months after the therapy, however, an extensive multiple liver metastasis occurred, and the patient died of hepatic and renal failure. His overall survival time was 7 months from start of the combined therapy. It thus is felt that a multi-drug regimen and systemic chemotherapy are important in treating small cell carcinomas of the esophagus.