Esophageal rhabdomyosarcoma: report of a case diagnosed by imprint cytology

• Published in: Acta cytologica Vol. 50; no. 2; p. 213
• Main Authors: Batoroev, Yuri K, Nguyen, Gia-Khanh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 01.03.2006
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Biopsy, Fine-Needle - methods; Esophageal Neoplasms - diagnosis; Esophageal Neoplasms - pathology; Esophageal Neoplasms - therapy; Fatal Outcome; Female; Humans; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; Rare Diseases; Rhabdomyosarcoma - diagnosis; Rhabdomyosarcoma - pathology; Rhabdomyosarcoma - therapy; Sensitivity and Specificity
• ISSN: 0001-5547
• DOI: 10.1159/000325935

Primary esophageal rhabdomyosarcoma (PER) is a very rare neoplasm with only 15 cases reported in the literature. Of those, only 1 case underwent a preoperative cytologic evaluation. We report a case of PER with diagnosis by imprint cytology. A 55-year-old woman presented with dysphagia of 2 months' duration associated with fatigue and weight loss. Clinical and diagnostic imaging investigations revealed a large, submucosal mass lesion located in the lower part of the esophagus. A bite biopsy of the esophageal mass was performed under esophagoscopy. Two imprint smears were made from the biopsied tissue fragment and stained with the May-Grünwald-Giemsa method. The smears revealed abundant, pleomorphic, malignant cells with basophilic cytoplasm. Some spindle-shaped cancer cells showed intracytoplasmic cross-striations, indicating a pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma, as confirmed by histologic and immunohistochemical studies of the biopsied tumor tissue and resected tumor. The presence of pleomorphic malignant cells with intracytoplasmic cross striations is a characteristic feature of pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma.