Dedifferentiated Liposarcoma of the Esophagus: A Case Report and Selected Review of the Literature

Abstract

Soft tissue sarcomas of the esophagus represent an extremely rare cause of esophageal masses, and an even smaller proportion of these tumors represent dedifferentiated liposarcomas. We present a case of a 75-year-old gentleman presenting with dysphagia found to have a 5 cm pedunculated mass in the cervical esophagus, originating at the cricopharyngeus. This was found to have involvement limited to the superficial mucosa by endoscopic ultrasound, and the lesion was subsequently resected endoscopically. Pathology demonstrated an undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma later determined to represent dedifferentiated liposarcoma after fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis. The patient received no additional adjuvant therapy and remains disease free 20 months from the procedure. While treatment experience is limited, our case demonstrates that in selected patients, sustained local control can be obtained without radical resection.