Carcinosarcoma and pseudosarcoma of the esophagus: two names, one disease--comprehensive review of the literature.

In the present review we have collected 127 carcinosarcomas and 56 pseudosarcomas of the esophagus from the literature. There were no significant differences in age, sex, symptoms, location, or stalk involvement between the two groups. Infiltrative lesions were observed in 7.5% and 4.0%, respectively. The rate of lymph node metastasis was 52.5% for carcinosarcoma and 45.0% for pseudosarcoma. The resectability was similar in the two groups, and the recurrence rates were 38.0% and 45.5%, respectively. Although recent immunohistochemical and electron microscopic studies suggested that carcinosarcoma and pseudosarcoma are a single pathologic entity of epithelial origin, no one has ever compared the clinical behavior of the two entities. Our study showed that the two neoplasms have similar clinical and behavioral outcomes. These findings support, once more, the unifying theory; and we suggest that the definition of "polypoid spindle cell carcinoma of the esophagus" be adopted.