Curative two-stage resection for synchronous triple cancers of the esophagus, colon, and liver: Report of a case

Case Report of Synchronous Prostate, Hepatocellular, and Rectal Carcinomas and Review of the Literature

Synchronous occurrence of three histopathologically distinct malignant tumors is a rare event, and there are no definitive guidelines about the optimal treatment of these patients. We report a case of synchronous prostate, hepatocellular, and rectal carcinomas and discuss our therapeutic strategy that resulted in excellent clinical results.

Synchronous resection of esophageal cancer and other organ malignancies: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Neoplasms arising in the esophagus may coexist with other solid organ or gastrointestinal tract neoplasms in 6% to 15% of patients. Resection of both tumors synchronously or in a staged procedure provides the best chances for long-term survival. Synchronous resection of both esophageal and second primary malignancy may be feasible in a subset of patients; however, literature on this topic remains rather scarce.

AIM

To analyze the operative techniques employed in esophageal resections combined with gastric, pancreatic, lung, colorectal, kidney and liver resections and define postoperative outcomes in each case.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review according to PRISMA guidelines. We searched the Medline database for cases of patients with esophageal tumors coexisting with a second primary tumor located in another organ that underwent synchronous resection of both neoplasms. All English language articles deemed eligible for inclusion were accessed in full text. Exclusion criteria included: (1) Hematological malignancies; (2) Head/neck/pharyngeal neoplasms; (3) Second primary neoplasms in the esophagus or the gastroesophageal junction; (4) Second primary neoplasms not surgically excised; and (5) Preclinical studies. Data regarding the operative strategy employed, perioperative outcomes and long-term outcomes were extracted and analyzed using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS

The systematic literature search yielded 23 eligible studies incorporating a total of 117 patients. Of these patients, 71% had a second primary neoplasm in the stomach. Those who underwent total gastrectomy had a reconstruction using either a colonic (n = 23) or a jejunal (n = 3) conduit while for those who underwent gastric preserving resections (i.e., non-anatomic/wedge/distal gastrectomies) a conventional gastric pull-up was employed. Likewise, in cases of patients who underwent esophagectomy combined with pancreaticoduodenectomy (15% of the cohort), the decision to preserve part of the stomach or not dictated the reconstruction method (whether by a gastric pull-up or a colonic/jejunal limb). For the remaining patients with coexisting lung/colorectal/kidney/liver neoplasms (14% of the entire patient population) the types of resections and operative techniques employed were identical to those used when treating each malignancy separately.

CONCLUSION

Despite the poor quality of available evidence and the great interstudy heterogeneity, combined procedures may be feasible with acceptable safety and satisfactory oncologic outcomes on individual basis.

Synchronous triple squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus

BACKGROUND

Synchronous multiple primary malignancies of the esophagus and other organs are relatively unusual, but only five articles have published two synchronous cancers, both in the esophagus. This is the first published case of a triple esophageal carcinoma.

CASE REPORT

A 43-year-old man was referred to our hospital with severe progressive dysphagia and epigastric pain for almost one year. Endoscopy and imaging exams revealed three tumors located in upper, middle and lower esophagus. The upper and middle esophageal cancers were irresectable, and the patient was treated with radio- and chemotherapy. He survived 11 months after the diagnosis and died due to severe undernutrition and bilateral pneumonia.

CONCLUSION

In presence of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, propedeutics should be carefully performed in order to verify the occurrence of other synchronous tumors in the esophagus and other organs, mainly head and neck and bronchial regions.