A case of recurrent esophageal cancer with lymph node and lung metastases, successfully treated with systemic chemotherapy and radiofrequency-ablation

: We report a case of recurrent esophageal cancer with lymph node and lung metastases, successfully treated with systemic chemotherapy and radiofrequency-ablation(RFA). A 45-year-old man was diagnosed with thoracic esophageal cancer.Radical esophagectomy with three-field lymphadenectomy was performed.After 6 months, mediastinal lymph node recurrence occurred.Although the size of the recurrent mediastinal lymph nodes were reduced after 10 courses of systemic chemotherapy, two new lung metastatic nodules appeared in the right segments 8 and 9.CT -guided percutaneous RFA was successfully achieved for the 2 lesions.However, 6 months after the RFA, a local recurrence at the RFA site of segment 9 occurred, and an additional RFA was performed for this tumor.Five years and four months after the first operation, the tumor marker level remained within a normal range, and the patient is doing very well without any signs of recurrence. RFA appears to be an effective and minimally invasive technique for controlling local recurrence of esophageal cancer when combined with systemic chemotherapy.