Case Report
Copyright ©2006 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 14, 2006; 12(34): 5565-5568
Published online Sep 14, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i34.5565
Successful outcome after combined chemotherapeutic and surgical management in a case of esophageal cancer with breast and brain relapse
Davide Adriano Santeufemia, Gianfranca Piredda, Giovanni Maria Fadda, Paolo Cossu Rocca, Salvatore Costantino, Giovanni Sanna, Maria Giuseppa Sarobba, Maria Antonietta Pinna, Carlo Putzu, Antonio Farris
Davide Adriano Santeufemia, Gianfranca Piredda, Giovanni Maria Fadda, Giovanni Sanna, Maria Giuseppa Sarobba, Maria Antonietta Pinna, Carlo Putzu, Antonio Farris, Department of Medical Oncology, University of Sassari, Sardinia, Italy
Paolo Cossu Rocca, Institute of Pathological Anatomy, University of Sassari, Sardinia, Italy
Salvatore Costantino, Institute of Radiology, University of Sassari, Sardinia, Italy
Correspondence to: Professor Antonio Farris, Chair of Medical Oncology, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 8, 07100, Sassari, Sardinia, Italy. afarris@uniss.it
Telephone: +39-79-228382
Received: May 29, 2006
Revised: June 8, 2006
Accepted: June 16, 2006
Published online: September 14, 2006
Abstract

Esophageal cancer (EC) is a highly lethal disease. Approximately 50% of patients present with metastatic EC and most patients with localized EC will have local recurrence or develop metastases, despite potentially curative local therapy. The most common sites of distant recurrence are represented by lung, liver and bone while brain and breast metastases are rare. Usually patients with advanced disease are not treated aggressively and their median survival is six months. We report a woman patient who developed breast and brain metastases after curative surgery. We treated her with a highly aggressive chemotherapeutic and surgical combination resulting in a complete remission of the disease even after 11-year follow-up. We think that in super selected patients with more than one metastasis, when functional status is good and metastases are technically resectable, a surgical excision may be considered as a salvage option and chemotherapy should be delivered to allow a systemic control.

Keywords: Esophageal cancer; Breast and brain metastases; Combined chemotherapeutic and surgical treatment