Abstract

Small cell carcinoma of the esophagus is a rare tumor. There has been about 180 cases world-widely and 7 cases in Korea since McKeown reported the first 2 cases of small cell carcinoma of the esophagus in 1952. Small cell carcinoma of the esophagus has a poor prognosis because of rapid progress and widespread dissemination such as small cell carcinoma of the lung. So it can be regarded as a systemic disease, and multimodality treatment including chemotherapy should be used. Using small cell lung cancer as a model, limited disease patients should receive multimodality therapy including chemotherapy followed by surgery and/or radiation and extensive disease patients receive chemotherapy only. Here we report the study of a 52-year-old male patient with primary small cell carcinoma of esophagus metastasized to liver and left supraclaviculer lymph node. We treated him with a multi-drug regimen (VP-16, ifosfamide and cisplatin) being used in small cell carcinoma of the lung at our hospital After two cycles of combination chemotherapy, the primary and metastatic lesions. as evaluated by esophagoscopy, barium esophagogram and abdominal CT scan, had markedly improved, and we evaluated as partial response. And we will treat him with four more cycles of chemotherapy.

• Keywords: Small cell carcinoma, Esophagus, Chemotherapy