Infiltrative granular cell tumor of the esophagus: a report of two cases

Granular cell tumor of the esophagus is an unusual tumor. It presents usual ly as a small and well limited lesion, localized in the mucosa or the submu cosa. We report two cases of granular cell tumor of the esophagus, remarkab le for their infiltrative growth. The tumor invaded the esophageal muscular is propria in one case and went through the adventitia in the other. There was no recurrence 1 year and 7 years after surgery, despite an incomplete r esection in the second case. Thirteen cases of infiltrative granular cell t umors of the esophagus have been published. They are usually responsible fo r dysphagia. They can invade the muscularis propria and the adventitia as w ell as the periesophageal organs. There is no recurrence, even after an inc omplete resection. The infiltrative feature of the granular cell tumors of the esophagus, by itself, cannot be considered as a malignant feature. The diagnosis of malignant granular cell tumor of the esophagus lies on the dis cover of metastases.