Esophagus and diaphragm

Abstract

A variety of benign or malignant tumors may arise in the esophagus. Benign tumors may be epithelial, such as polyps, adenomas, papillomas, and cysts, or nonepithelial, such as leiomyomas, fibromas, fibromyomas, and lipomas. However, these neoplasms are exceedingly rare, accounting for less than 1% of all esophageal tumors. The majority of malignant esophageal tumors are either squamous cell carcinomas or adenocarcinomas, but other tumors, such as sarcomas and melanomas, can be found in the esophagus. Benign esophageal tumors can be separated into epithelial and nonepithelial types. The most common benign tumor, the leiomyoma comprising 60-80% of all benign neoplasms, is classified as a nonepithelial tumor. Other benign tumors, in descending order of frequency, include cysts, lipomas, fibromas, and vascular or neu-rogenic tumors. Esophageal adenomas, papillomas, granular cell tumors, myxofibro-mas, and lymphangiomas are rare. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.