Adenocarcinoma of the upper esophagus.

Glandular heterotopia of the upper esophagus is a congenital abnormality that is frequently discovered during upper digestive tract endoscopy (in 0.26–4.9% of cases), but usually with no malignant potential. Indeed, adenocarcinoma of the upper esophagus related to such lesions is a rare entity. We report here the 27th observation of this rare type of tumor in an 87-year-old man complaining of cervical dysphagia. This adenocarcinoma had developed from an area of gastric heterotopia 3cm below the upper sphincter of the esophagus. The treatment regimen was based on exclusive radiochemotherapy, which led to a complete endoscopic response at the end of treatment. The patient's symptom-free survival was six months and overall survival was 17 months from diagnosis. This case of a rare tumor of the upper esophagus raises the question of whether the detection and surveillance of this type of heterotopia would be useful and, thus, to be recommended.