-Case Reports-

Argon Plasma Coagulation for a Patient with Locoregional Failure after Definitive Chemoradiotherapy for Esophageal Carcinoma: A Case Report

Tsutomu Nomura, Masao Miyashita, Hiroshi Makino, Keiichi Okawa, Miwako Katsuta and Takashi Tajiri

Surgery for Organ Function and Biological Regulation, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School

Patients who undergo definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) face a risk of residual resistant disease or disease recurrence at the primary site; therefore, salvage treatment may be required. An optimum strategy to minimize these risks clearly needs to be established. Argon plasma coagulation (APC) is a safe and convenient procedure now applied widely for therapeutic endoscopy. In this report we describe the successful use of APC over 6 years for the treatment of recurrent esophageal cancer after CRT. A 61-year-old Japanese man underwent CRT for a thoracic esophageal cancer. Pathological examination before CRT revealed a well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. Locoregional failure was observed 2 years after CRT, and an initial APC treatment was performed. The patient has now undergone APC ablation 7 times with no postoperative complications. No metastasis to lymph nodes or to other organs has been detected during the last 6 years. The usefulness of APC as a salvage treatment for locoregional failure after definitive CRT has not been established. In our experience, salvage APC is the best treatment option for some patients.

J Nippon Med Sch 2008; 75: 280-283

Keywords
argon plasma coagulation, esophageal carcinoma, salvage treatment

Correspondence to
Tsutomu Nomura, Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8603, Japan
nomura-t@nms.ac.jp

Received, March 17, 2008
Accepted, May 7, 2008