Pathology Associates Of Lexington, P.A.

Esophageal Tumors and Polyps

The esophagus is the tube connecting the back of the mouth to the stomach. Isolated outgrowths or protrusions extend from the various levels of the esophageal wall into its internal hollow space (as with the inside of a hose), the lumen. Almost all are growths of some sort. Endoscopic exams for various stomach or chest pain symptoms discover the great majority of these lesions. Others are found when obstruction causes pain and imaging exams are made; and some are coincidentally found during various imaging exams for other reasons.

Benign Lesions:

non-tumorous, non-"growth" polyps:
- granulation tissue nodules.
tumors or growths, benign:
- soft tissue nodule (leiomyoma or lipoma).
tumors or growths, malignant:
- carcinoma:
  - squamous cell carcinoma:
  - adenocarcinoma:
  - small-cell carcinoma
  - medullary:
- carcinoid tumor, malignant: (there are ordinary and mucinous variants)
- sarcoma:
  - GIST
    - specific IHC marker CD117 positive²
    - may be a tumor of the "interstitial cells of Cajal"²
    - roughly tend to be "myoid" or "neural" (GANT...gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumor) and there are at least two classification systems: Suster and Rosai²
    - behavior differs somewhat in different GI sites¹
    - ASCO meeting in San Francisco, 13 May '01: report that Gleevec has some striking cure rates [newspaper]
    - favorable response to STI571²
  - other traditional sarcomas
- lymphoma:
  - MALT-type...low-grades arising primarily in the GI tract organ
  - those secondarily affecting GI
Other intestine-associated obstructing or mass lesions:

References:

4 May 2001, S. P. Seminar in Pittsburgh...lecture and seminar notes.
Cancer Control, J. of the Moffitt Cancer Center, 8(3):252-261.

(posted 21 February 2005)