J. Soga, ESOPHAGEAL ENDOCRINOMAS, AN EXTREMELY RARE TUMOR - A STATISTICAL COMPARATIVE-EVALUATION OF 28 ORDINARY CARCINOIDS AND 72 ATYPICAL VARIANTS, Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research, 17(1), 1998, pp. 47-57
Esophageal endocrinomas are an extremely I are neoplasm. The present s
tudy aimed to evaluate multiphasic clinical and pathologic aspects of
100 cases of esophageal endocrinomas, consisting of 28 cases of ordina
ry type carcinoids and 72 atypical varieties collected from worldwide
literature and recorded on computer in the Niigata Registry. The evalu
ation of esophageal endocrinoma cases was on most occasions carried ou
t in accordance with a comparison between ordinary carcinoids and atyp
ical varieties. Esophageal endocrinomas were generally characterized b
y a preponderance of male patients and an older age group. They also e
xhibited a higher metastasis rate, and a lower incidence of carcinoid
syndrome than overall endocrinomas of the digestive series. They furth
er indicated a probable unfavorable postoperative outcome as compared
to endocrinomas in most other digestive organs. Ordinary carcinoids of
the esophagus were characterized by smaller size at detection, lower
metastasis rate, and better postoperative outcome than the atypical va
riety group. Because of the extremely small number of cases of esophag
eal endocrinomas, additional case reports are in future expected to be
satisfactorily documented as a valuable record.