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Clinicopathologic characteristics of basaloid squamous carcinoma of the esophagus

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Abstract

Basaloid squamous carcinoma (BSC) of the esophagus is a rare but distinct variant of esophageal carcinoma, identical to BSC of the upper aerodigestive tract. The incidence of BSC has been reported to present 0.4–3.6% of total esophageal malignant tumors. The average age of BSC patients was 64 years, ranging from 42 to 87 years, with male predominance (male to female ratio 6.8:1). The tumor preferentially occurs in the middle part of the thoracic esophagus and appears a subepithelial tumor-like or polypoid elevation in early stages. Histologically, it is composed of basaloid cells with oval to round nuclei and scant basophilic cytoplasms, which show a solid growth pattern, small gland-like spaces, and foci of comedo-type necrosis with hyalinized stroma mimicking basement membrane. BSCs are commonly associated with intraepithelial neoplasia or invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The proliferative activity is higher than that in typical SCC. However, BSC is also characterized by a high rate of apoptosis. Although the prognosis of BSC does not differ significantly from that of typical SCC in early stages, advanced-stage BSC shows a poorer prognosis than typical SCC. Recent advances in molecular pathology have demonstrated peculiar features of BSC, including aneuploidy, frequent Bcl-2 expression, and less frequent expression of p16 protein. There is no doubt that BSC differs from typical SCC; however, further investigation is required to elucidate the detailed biological behavior of BSC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital, 35-2 Sakaecho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-0015, Japan

    Tomio Arai

  2. Department of Gastroenterology, Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

    Yasuko Ushio

  3. Research Team for Geriatric Pathology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan

    Junko Aida, Ken-ichi Nakamura & Kaiyo Takubo

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  1. Tomio Arai
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  2. Junko Aida
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  3. Ken-ichi Nakamura
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  4. Yasuko Ushio
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  5. Kaiyo Takubo
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Correspondence to Tomio Arai.

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Arai, T., Aida, J., Nakamura, Ki. et al. Clinicopathologic characteristics of basaloid squamous carcinoma of the esophagus. Esophagus 8, 169–177 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10388-011-0280-x

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