[Successful treatment of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus by combination chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil plus nedaplatin following tracheal stent tube placement-a case report].

The patient was a 68-year-old man who complained of hoarseness and dyspnea. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a type 3 tumor located in the middle thoracic esophagus at 30 cm from the incisor tooth that involved one-fourth of the circumference of the esophagus. Histopathological examination revealed moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. Chest computed tomography( CT) revealed severe tracheal stenosis due to compression by a metastatic lymph node along the left recurrent laryngeal nerve. The patient was diagnosed as having cT4( 106recL-trachea), N2( 101L, 106recL, 106recR), M0, Stage IVa unresectable esophageal carcinoma. After insertion of a tracheal stent tube( spiral Z stent: diameter, 18 mm; length, 80 mm) to improve dyspnea, combination chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil( 5-FU) plus nedaplatin was administered. Subsequent CT and endoscopy showed that the main tumor and the metastatic lymph node had significantly reduced in size and that complete response (CR) had been achieved. Thirty months after the initial treatment, the patient showed no sign of disease recurrence, after completion of 19 cycles of chemotherapy. The patient did not experience any severe adverse events. We report a case of a patient with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus successfully treated with 5-FU/nedaplatin combination chemotherapy following tracheal stent tube placement.