A case of early esophageal adenocarcinoma arising from Barrett's esophagus

Abstract

We report here an 83-year-old woman with an early esophageal adenocarcinoma arising from Barrett's esophagus. Endoscopic examination revealed a reddish depressive lesion 3 mm in diameter and a nodular-faced lesion in columnar epithelium. Biopsy specimen from both lesions revealed well-differentiated adenocarcinoma.
We performed subtotal esophagectomy and the resected specimen showed the length of Barrett's esophagus to be about 7 cm. The type 0-IIc esophageal carcinoma measured 3 mm and the type 0-IIa esophageal carcinoma measured 1 cm in size. Well-differentiated adenocarcinoma was presented in both lesion, and in both, the invasion depth was limited to the lamina propria mucosa. There was no evidence of lymph node metastasis. Barrett's esophagus is considered a precancerous condition and the treatment of choice with curative intent has been esophagectomy. Subtotal esophagectomy was performed safely for this 83-year-old patient and we suggest that subtotal esophagectomy is an effective therapy for early adenocarcinoma in Barrett's esophagus.