Abstract
A 47-year-old man who received follow-up PET-CT after surgery for rectal cancer was detected to have a mass with high accumulation of FDG in the wall of the middle intrathoracic esophagus. It was found to be an about 2-cm submucosal tumor on upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Suspecting gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) of the esophagus or mediastinal lymph node metastasis of rectal cancer, we performed robot-assisted thoracoscopic resection of the esophageal tumor. The pathological diagnosis was c-kit-positive GIST. Reportedly, GIST arising from the esophagus represents a relatively rare GIST with an incidence of about 2-5% of all GIST cases. The first-choice treatment is surgical resection, and resection without damaging the capsule is necessary. Robot-assisted surgery may be useful because it facilitates safe and minimally invasive surgery in a limited space of the thoracic cavity.
