Oat cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

An oat cell carcinoma occurring in the esophagus of a 59-year-old man is described. A review of another 22 cases of such a tumor from the English literature is made. These tumors may have three histologic patterns; pure oat cell carcinoma, oat cell carcinoma with squamous cell carcinoma, and oat cell carcinoma with adenocarcinoma. They appear to arise from enterochromaffin cells; the neoplastic cells show argyrophilia and neurosecretory-type granules on electron microscopy. Resection has been the principal mode of therapy. Overall survival for these patients is about 6 months, with most patients dying of extensive metastatic disease.