Toluidine blue staining of the esophagus. A useful adjunct in the panendoscopic evaluation of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Carcinoma of the esophagus has a much higher incidence among patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck than among the population at large. Esophageal cancer has a low cure rate, and the possibility for increased survival can be enhanced primarily through early detection. Toluidine blue has proved to be effective in demonstrating early malignant lesions that would not be detectable otherwise. A technique has been developed for toluidine blue staining of the esophagus during panendoscopy. In this initial series of 18 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract, we found a 17% incidence of early carcinoma of the esophagus. We believe this technique to be an important adjunct to the evaluation of these patients at high risk for esophageal carcinoma.