Li X, Zhang D, Lai R
Department of Pathology, 81th Hospital of PLA, Nanjing.
Zhonghua Zhong Liu Za Zhi. 1996 Sep;18(5):395-7.
Small-cell esophageal carcinoma (SCEC) is not uncommon. From 1979 through 1994, 42 cases of SCEC were diagnosed among 711 patients with cancer of the esophagus, with a relative frequency of 5.9%. Differential diagnosis is difficult according to clinical symptoms and signs. However, SCEC differs greatly from squamous-cell carcinoma of the esophagus in histopathology and biologic behavior but is similar to small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). Surgical treatment alone of SCEC patients has a mean survival period of 11.2 months while patients treated with radiotherapy alone has a longer survival (22.8 months). No case was treated only with chemotherapy in this group of patients. Those received no treatment could survive 6.2 months only. Therefore, SCEC is a very aggressive tumor with poor prognosis. Histochemical and immunohistochemical study revealed both epithelial and neuro-endocrine differentiation potentials suggesting that SCEC probably originates from mulfipotential primitive stem cells in the esophageal mucosa.
小细胞食管癌（SCEC）并不罕见。1979年至1994年间，在711例食管癌患者中诊断出42例SCEC，相对发生率为5.9%。根据临床症状和体征进行鉴别诊断很困难。然而，SCEC在组织病理学和生物学行为上与食管鳞状细胞癌有很大不同，但与小细胞肺癌（SCLC）相似。单纯手术治疗的SCEC患者平均生存期为11.2个月，而单纯放疗的患者生存期更长（22.8个月）。该组患者中没有仅接受化疗的病例。未接受治疗的患者仅能存活6.2个月。因此，SCEC是一种侵袭性很强、预后很差的肿瘤。组织化学和免疫组织化学研究显示出上皮和神经内分泌分化潜能，提示SCEC可能起源于食管黏膜中的多能原始干细胞。
