A CASE OF MUSCLE METASTASIS AFTER RADICAL OPERATION FOR AN ESOPHAGEAL CANCER

Skeletal muscle metastasis is rare, but it can occur from lymphomas, as well as carcinomas of the breast, lung, large intestine, pancreas, kidney, stomach, gallbladder and uterine. Solitary metastatic growth in the muscle from esophageal cancer, however, is very rare. This paper describes a patient developed muscle metastasis one year after radical operation for an esophageal cancer. A 60-year-old male was seen at the hospital because of progressive pain of a tumor in the left anterior thigh. Ultrasonography showed a cystic tumor with irregular wall. Aspiration biopsy of the tumor yielded no malignant cell. The patient was closely followed, and then he was admitted for examination, because an enlarging tendency of the tumor was confirmed. Computed tomographic scanning showed a rounded low dense mass in the vastus intermedius muscle. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a mass in the same site. The latter demonstrated high signal on T2-weighted image and low signal on T1-weighted image. Femoral artery angiography showed neovasculization and tumor staining. The tumor was excised together with the vastus intermedius muscle. Pathological finding was muscle metastasis from carcinoma of the esophagus. We suggest that possible skeletal muscle metastasis should be considered in a patient with solitary muscle tumor after radical operation for some malignant lesion.