A case with recurrent esophageal cancer in gastric conduit successfully controlled by photodynamic therapy

Abstract

A 68-year-old man had undergone radical resection for thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (fT1bN0M0, fStage I) , and received chemoradiation therapy (CRT) for cervical spine metastasis on 32 months after operation. Gastrointestinal endoscopy 22 months after CRT revealed an ulcerative and localized type tumor in the gastric conduit. A biopsy yielded a diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma, consistent with metastasis from the esophageal carcinoma. We conducted photodynamic therapy (PDT) for the recurrent tumor as salvage treatment. PDT was fairly efficacious, prolonging survival concomitant with tumor stasis. During 6 times PDT, the patient developed no adverse effect for this treatment with favorable activities of daily life. Salvage PDT, minimally invasive tool as multimodality therapy, may improve prognosis of the patients with a difficult-to-treat recurrent esophageal cancer after CRT