Lessons learned: organ-preserving management of verrucous carcinoma of the esophagus.

Authors

Nicholas Kozak, Vibhay Pareek, Andrew Maksymiuk, Amitava Chowdhury, Biniam Kidane

Published in

Diseases of the esophagus : official journal of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus. Volume 39. Issue 5. Sep 02, 2026.

Abstract

Verrucous carcinoma of the esophagus (VCE) is a rare type of esophageal cancer with a propensity for slow local spread. Early-stage cases are often treated with endoscopic resection. VCEs that extend beyond the submucosa are usually treated with esophagectomy if resection is feasible, and definitive chemoradiotherapy is frequently reserved for cases where patient or tumor factors contraindicate resection. There have been three reported cases of a complete pathological response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for patients with VCE undergoing esophagectomy, but an approach to chemoradiotherapy for organ-preservation in operable patients has not been described. We describe a patient with an operable cT3N0M0 VCE managed with organ-preserving chemoradiation who achieved a complete clinical response, despite early discontinuation of his treatment. His clinical response was supported by serial bite-on-bite biopsies and post-treatment imaging. We review the outcomes of chemoradiotherapy for this rare disease and highlight the challenges of response assessment and surveillance that organ preservation entails.

PMID:
42870551
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 14 Oct 2026.

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