A 65-year-old man with a past history of endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS) for esophageal varices due to liver cirrhosis, was treated surgically under a diagnosis of early cancer of the middle sophagus. The cancer was found limited within mucosal layer histologically. Muscularis mucosae was well preserved in the primary site, however, it disappeared mostly in the lower esophagus because of EIS. Thus no relationship between EIS and the development of carcinoma was suggested in this case.
Fifteen similar cases including this case in Japan are all males with the average age of 58.4. No particular tendency can be found in the kind of sclerosant, amount, injection method, latent period or stage of the disease. Five cases in an early stage are reported to have been followed up every 3-6 month intensively after EIS, resulted in good prognosis. Although it is still difficult to object the relationship between EIS and carcinoma completely, it is essential to follow patients undergoing EIS intensively in order not to overlook esophageal carcinoma.