Background and objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical course and effects of histopathologic characteristics of specific tumors including DNA contents and immunohistochemical aspects in patients with small cell carcinoma of the esophagus.
Methods: Medical records of 4 patients who presented with small cell carcinoma of the esophagus were retrospectively reviewed.
Results: DNA aneuploidy was observed in 2 cases. Staining for the p53 product was positive in all cases. The average proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) labeling rate (LR) was 77.6% (64.0-90.8%). The estimated median survival was 42 days for all patients. Distant metastases were observed in 2 of the 4 patients.
Conclusions: Higher PCNA LR of small cell carcinoma may be an unfavorable characteristic of biological behavior. Patients with disseminated disease should have symptomatically palliative operation combined with chemotherapy.