A case with small cell carcinoma of the esophagus: measurement of tumor markers, including pro-gastrin-releasing peptide
Yanagawa, H.; Shimada, K.; Tanaka, H.; Takeuchi, E.; Maniwa, K.; Suzuki, Y.; Ogushi, F.; Sano, N.; Izumi, K.; Sone, S.
Anticancer Research 18(4b): 2877-2880
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0250-7005 PMID: 9713479 Document Number: 489776
Small cell carcinoma of the esophagus is a rare clinical entity and the accumulation of information is necessary to clarify its clinical behavior. We report a 69-year-old Japanese man with this rare disease with systemic metastases, including liver, bone and lymphnodes. The patient was treated with systemic chemotherapy consisting of 300 mg/m2 of carboplatin on day 1, and 80 mg/m2 of etoposide on days 1, 2 and 3. Although transient relief of subjective symptoms was obtained, the disease showed systemic progress, and the patient died on day 25 of chemotherapy. During the clinical course of the disease, serum pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (proGRP) decreased upon systemic chemotherapy from elevated level (54.6 pg/ml) to normal range (19.2 pg/ml). Further study is warranted to examine whether measurement of serum proGRP may yield valuable information on the diagnosis and monitoring activities of esophageal small cell carcinoma.