Esophageal carcinoma in children and adolescents.

Background: Esophageal cancer is rare in children and is limited to isolated case reports. We describe 2 cases of esophageal carcinoma (1 case each of squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma) and present literature review of esophageal carcinoma in childhood.

Observations: Both of our patients had common symptoms of progressive dysphagia and significant weight loss at presentation. We were unable to identify any specific predisposing factors for either adenocarcinoma (caustic ingestion, reflux disease, Barrett esophagus) or squamous cell carcinoma (caustic ingestion, inherited bone marrow failure syndromes). Both patients responded poorly to chemotherapy and died of progressive disease.

Conclusions: On account of the rarity of esophageal carcinoma in this age group, there are no management guidelines for the pediatric oncologist. There is a strong need for collaborative efforts between adult and pediatric oncologists to establish cooperative diagnostic and therapeutic protocols for successful management of rare pediatric tumors like esophageal carcinoma.