CASE REPORT article
Front. Med.
Sec. Gastroenterology
Endoscopic Resection of Esophageal Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma with Submucosal Origin and Long-Term Follow-Up: A Case Report
Provisionally accepted
- 1Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University Department of Gastroenterology, Jining, China
- 2Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University Department of Nephrology, Jining, China
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Esophageal adenoid cystic carcinoma (EACC) is an exceptionally rare malignancy where diagnosis by conventional endoscopy remains challenging due to its submucosal growth pattern. We present a case of a 47-year-old male with an esophageal submucosal lesion detected during routine examination. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) precisely localized the lesion to the submucosal layer, revealing a hypoechoic mass with a characteristic sieve-like appearance and intact muscularis propria. The tumor was completely resected using endoscopic submucosal excavation (ESE), with histopathology confirming EACC. During 5 years of regular follow-up, the patient maintained excellent condition with no evidence of recurrence or metastasis. This case highlights the critical role of EUS in diagnosing and staging early EACC and demonstrates that endoscopic resection can achieve long-term cure in carefully selected patients, offering a minimally invasive alternative to traditional esophagectomy.
Keywords: Esophageal Neoplasms, Adenoid cystic carcinoma, endoscopic ultrasound, EndoscopicSubmucosal Excavation, case report
Received: 11 Oct 2025; Accepted: 09 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Ma, Luo, Xue and Niu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lingling Niu
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