The Uncharted Territories of Esophageal Cancer with Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle Metastasis: A Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract

Background: Esophageal cancer (EC) comprises 1% of all diagnosed cancers in the USA. It is more common in other parts of the world. If there is distant metastasis, the relative survival rate is 6%. There are no standardized screening methods for EC. Case Presentation: We reported a four-year case of esophageal cancer, a P53-positive mutation with atypical distant metastasis to the cardiac and skeletal muscles. The patient was managed with multimodal therapy, including immunotherapy, which could have been a factor in prolonged survival. Conclusions: Distant metastases are typically seen postmortem, and with prolonged survival, we are able to find such unique metastases antemortem. Despite a history of negative scans, the patient’s ctDNA (circulating tumor DNA) remained positive, which was a better predictor of recurrence in this case. Future research is required to establish cost-effective screening methods and standardized treatments.

Keywords

• esophageal cancer
• immunotherapy
• distant metastasis
• check point inhibitors
• ctDNA