Basaloid-squamous carcinoma of the esophagus: Report of a case

We report herein the case of a 69-year-old man with basaloid-squamous carci noma (BSC) of the esophagus. To the best of our knowledge, this is the 60th case of BSC of the esophagus to be reported in Japan, and a review of the other 59 cases is presented after this case report. In our patient, endosco pic findings revealed a circumferential erosion in the middle intrathoracic esophagus (Im), and a protruding tumor with friable ulceration in the cent er of the erosion, A biopsy suggested that it was moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and a thoracoscopic total thoracic esophage ctomy was performed. Histologically, the protruding-type lesion with ulcera tion was composed of BSC, and the circumferential 0 - I + IIc type lesion w as composed of moderately differentiated SCC. The immunohistochemical findi ngs of these resected specimens led us to suspect that the basal-layer-type SCC had transformed into BSC by undergoing differentiation and expansive p roliferation.