Cerebellar, brainstem and spinal cord metastases from esophageal cancer following radiotherapy: A case report and literature review

Abstract

Cerebellar, brainstem and spinal cord metastases from esophageal cancer following radiotherapy are extremely rare. The current study presents the case of a 74-year-old male who was admitted to the Zhejiang Cancer Hospital (Hangzhou, China) with a poorly-differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma of the esophagus. Following radiotherapy, multiple abnormal signals in the brainstem and spinal cord were found on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Following palliative radiochemotherapy, the clinical symptoms and abnormal MRI signals in the brainstem and spinal cord were found to improve. This case revealed that brain metastasis from esophageal carcinoma may occur simultaneously with brainstem and spinal cord metastases.