A CASE WITH SMALL-CELL CARCINOMA OF THE ESOPHAGUS - MEASUREMENT OF TUMOR-MARKERS, INCLUDING PRO-GASTRIN-RELEASING PEPTIDE

Small cell carcinoma of the esophagus is a rare clinical entity and th e accumulation of information is necessary to clarify its clinical beh avior. We report a 69-year-old Japanese man with this rare disease wit h systemic metastases, including liver, bone and lymphnodes. The patie nt was treated with systemic chemotherapy consisting of 300 mg/m(2) of carboplatin on day 1, and 80 mg/m(2) of etoposide on days 1, 2 nnd 3. Although transient relief of subjective symptoms was obtained the dis ease showed systemic progress, and the patient died on day 25 of chemo therapy. During the clinical course of the disease, serum pro-gastrin- releasing peptide (proGRP) decreased upon systemic chemotherapy from e levated level (54.6 pg/ml) to normal range (19.2 pg/ml). Further study is warranted to examine whether measurement of serum proGRP may yield valuable information on the diagnosis and monitoring activities of es ophageal small cell carcinoma.