ESOPHAGEAL CANCER COEXISTING WITH COLORECTAL LESIONS

Objective: To investigate the incidence of colorectal lesions in patie nts who present with oesophageal cancer. Design: Prospective open stud y. Setting: University hospital, Japan. Subjects: 135 of 218 patients who presented with squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus during th e seven year period 1988-1994 were randomly allocated to have a barium enema examination. Interventions: Barium enema examinations, and if c olorectal lesions were found, colonoscopy and biopsy. Main outcome mea sure: Incidence of coexistent colorectal lesions. Results: No abnormal findings were found in 52 (39%), diverticula were present on 37 (27%) , benign polypoid lesions in 51 (38%), and malignant lesions in 6 (4%) . We examined the clinical and histopathological details of all patien ts to see if it was possible to distinguish the patients at high risk of developing oesophageal and colorectal cancer but could find no diff erences among the groups. Conclusion: Asymptomatic colorectal lesions are relatively common in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus in Japan.