Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Characteristics and diagnosis of esophageal basaloid squamous cell carcinoma

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Esophagus Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (BSCC) is a relatively rare, malignant disease of the esophagus. The prognosis of patients with BSCC is thought to be poorer than that of typical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), but the treatment strategy for BSCC is generally the same as that for typical SCC. This study examined the diagnosis, the clinical and pathological characteristics, and the results of therapy in patients with BSCC.

Methods

The medical records for 13 patients with pathologically confirmed esophageal BSCC were extracted. The pretreatment endoscopic diagnosis and the pathological diagnosis after resection were reviewed for each patient, and the histological features and patient outcome were examined. We especially focus on histological difference and endoscopic findings of the 13 patients with BSCC.

Results

Macroscopically, BSCC was mainly visualized as an elevated lesion with normal epithelium on the surface layer which indicated the tumor growth into submucosa. Further pathological examination allowed the 13 BSCC patients to be grouped into 2 groups according to differences in the microscopic appearances of the BSCC cancer cells: a typical BSCC pattern and a pattern similar to that of poorly differentiated SCC. Six of the patients who received an esophagectomy as the primary treatment died, and only 1 patient survived. Two patients who received chemoradiotherapy before an esophagectomy did not develop recurrences. Almost all the patients who died as a result of the recurrence of esophageal cancer had a lymph node recurrence. Prognoses of BSCCs with a pattern similar to that of poorly differentiated SCC without preoperative chemotherapy were poorer than BSCCs with a typical BSCC pattern, while BSCC with a pattern similar to poorly differentiated SCC with preoperative chemotherapy showed good prognoses than BSCC without preoperative chemotherapy.

Conclusions

BSCC esophageal cancer mainly appears as an elevated lesion with submucosal growth, which can be diagnosed preoperatively by understanding of macroscopic characteristics of esophageal BSCC. The outcome of the BSCC patients in the present study was relatively poor, while pretreatment diagnosis of BSCC influences the strategy of treatment and pathological diagnosis including histological difference of BSCC may lead to appropriate treatment and better prognosis of esophageal BSCC.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Takubo K, Mafune K, Tanaka Y, Miyama T, Fujita K. Basaloid-squamous carcinoma of the esophagus with marked deposition of basement membrane substance. Acta Pathol Jpn. 1991;41:59–64.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Rubio CA, Liu FS. The histogenesis of microinvasive basal cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Pathol Res Pract. 1990;186:223–7.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Abe K, Sasano H, Itakura Y, Nishihira T, Mori S, Nagura H. Basaloid-squamous carcinoma of the esophagus. A clinicopathologic, DNA ploidy, and immunohistochemical study of seven cases. Am J Surg Pathol. 1996;20:453–61.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Vaaudev P, Boutross-Tadross O, Radhi J. Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma: two case reports. Cases J. 2009;2:9351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Cho KJ, Jang JJ, Lee SS, Zo JI. Basaloid squamous carcinoma of the oesophagus: a distinct neoplasm with multipotential differentiation. Histopathology. 2000;36(4):331–40.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Schaefer IM, Enders C, Polten A, Haller F, Frölich AM, Cameron S, et al. Common genomic aberrations in basaloid squamous cell carcinoma and carcinosarcoma of the esophagus detected by CGH and array CGH. Am J Clin Pathol. 2011;135(4):579–86.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Chen SB, Weng HR, Wang G, Yang JS, Yang WP, et al. Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2012;138:1165–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Imamhasan A, Mitomi H, Saito T, Hayashi T, Takahashi M, Kajiyama Y, et al. Immunohistochemical and oncogenetic analyses of esophageal basaloid squamous cell carcinoma in comparison with conventional squamous cell carcinomas. Hum Pathol. 2012;43:2012–23.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Wain SL, Kier R, Vollmer RT, Bossen EH. Basaloid-squamous carcinoma of the tongue, hypopharynx, and larynx: report of 10 cases. Hum Pathol. 1986;17:1158–66.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. The Japan Esophageal Society. Japanese Classification of Esophageal Cancer. 10th ed 2008 (Revised version).

  11. Ohashi K, Horiguchi S, Moriyama S, Hishima T, Hayashi Y, Momma K, et al. Superficial basaloid squamous carcinoma of the esophagus. A clinicopathological and immunohistochemical study of 12 cases. Pathol Res Pract. 2003;199(11):713–21.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Zhang XH, Sun GQ, Ahou XJ, Guo HF, Zhang TH. Basaloid squamous carcinoma of the esophagus: a clinicopathological, immunohistological and electron microscopic study of sixteen cases. World J Gastroenterol. 1998;4:297–403.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Sarbia M, Verreet P, Bittinger F, Dutkowski P, Heep H, Willers R, et al. Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus: diagnosis and prognosis. Cancer. 1997;79:1871–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Li TJ, Zhang YX, Wen J, Cowan DF, Hart J, Xiao SY. Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus with and without adenoid cystic features. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2004;128:1124–30.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Zhang BH, Cheng GY, Xue Q, Gao SG, Sun KL, Wang YG, et al. Clinical outcomes of Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus: a retrospective analysis of 142 cases. Asian Pacific J Cancer Prev. 2013;14(3):1889–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Lam KY, Law S, Luk JM, Wong J. Oesophageal basaloid squamous cell carcinoma: a unique clinicopathological entity with telomerase activity as prognostic indicator. J Pathol. 2001;195:435–42.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Ohashi K, Horiguchi S, Moriyama S, Hishima T, Hayashi Y, Momma K, et al. Superficial basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. A clinicopathological and immunohistological study of the 12 cases. Pathol Res Pract. 2003;199(11):713–21.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. The Japanese society for esophageal diseases:comprehensive registry of Esophageal cancer in Japan(1998,1999). 3rd ed, 2002.

  19. Luna MA, Parichatikanond P, Weber RS. BatsakisJG: Basaloid squamous carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract. Clinicopathologic and DNA flow cytometric analysis. Cancer. 1990;66:537–42.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Kobayashi Y, Nakanishi Y, Taniguchi H, Sekine S, Igaki H, Tachimori Y, et al. Histological diversity in basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Disease of the esophagus. 2009;22:231–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Ethical Statement

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any authors.

Conflict of interest

Author Rieko Nakamura, Author Tai Omori, Author Hiroya Takeuchi, Author Hirofumi Kawakubo, Author Tsunehiro Takahashi, Author Norihito Wada, Author Yoshiro Saikawa, Author Kaori Kameyama, and Author Yuko Kitagawa declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-8582, Japan

    Rieko Nakamura, Tai Omori, Hiroya Takeuchi, Hirofumi Kawakubo, Tsunehiro Takahashi, Norihito Wada, Yoshiro Saikawa & Yuko Kitagawa

  2. Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

    Kaori Kameyama

Authors
  1. Rieko Nakamura
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tai Omori
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hiroya Takeuchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hirofumi Kawakubo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Tsunehiro Takahashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Norihito Wada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Yoshiro Saikawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Kaori Kameyama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Yuko Kitagawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rieko Nakamura.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nakamura, R., Omori, T., Takeuchi, H. et al. Characteristics and diagnosis of esophageal basaloid squamous cell carcinoma. Esophagus 13, 48–54 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10388-015-0490-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10388-015-0490-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation