Difficult Preoperative Diagnosis of Lymphoepithelioma-Like Carcinoma of the Esophagus

ACG Case Rep J. 2019 Aug 30;6(8):e00163. doi: 10.14309/crj.0000000000000163. eCollection 2019 Aug.

Abstract

A 60-year-old man with a medical history of diabetes, liver cirrhosis, and distal gastrectomy was referred for further examination of a 10-mm pale-colored submucosal tumor around 40 cm from the incisors. Narrow band imaging-magnifying endoscopy revealed the lesion covered by smooth epithelium with irregular microvascular architecture in a sparse distribution. Endosonography showed an irregular-shaped hypoechoic lesion in the submucosa. With no evidence of metastases, we performed en bloc endoscopic submucosal dissection, whose specimen revealed esophageal lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma invading up to 500 μm in the submucosa, a rare disease entity. Despite no additional treatment, he was alive without recurrence for longer than 88 months.

Publication types

  • Case Reports