Research report: Esophageal adenosquamous carcinoma with mucinous

A case report in General Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Cases describes an esophageal adenosquamous carcinoma, a rare tumor containing both squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma components. In this patient, lymph node metastases were overwhelmingly mucinous carcinoma, the mucus-producing adenocarcinoma form. The report notes the subtype makes diagnosis difficult because endoscopic biopsies often sample only the superficial squamous layer, leading to frequent misdiagnosis as the more common esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The patient presented with dysphagia and a heavy smoking history, alongside diabetes mellitus, prior myocardial infarction, prostate cancer, and bladder cancer. Imaging showed a stage III esophageal cancer (cT3N2M0) with suspected adenosquamous carcinoma, but an unusual mismatch: a highly FDG-avid primary tumor (SUVmax 11.6) while regional nodes showed no uptake.