Incidence and treatment of brain metastasis in patients with esophageal carcinoma

Table 1 Comparison of the clinical characteristics of brain metastasis from esophageal carcinoma patients in different countries n (%)

Clinical characteristic	Japan[19]	United States[20]	China[18]
	n = 36	n = 27	n = 31
	2003-2010	1993-2001	2000-2012
Pathology
Squamous cell carcinoma	23 (64)	2 (7)	26 (83.8)
Adenocarcinoma	5 (14)	22 (82)	3 (9.7)
Small cell carcinoma	5 (14)	0	2 (6.5)
Other	3 (8)	3 (11)	0
RPA class
I	3 (8)	2 (7)	9 (29)
II	11 (31)	21 (78)	19 (61.3)
III	22 (61)	4 (15)	3 (9.7)
Number of BMEC lesions
Single	19 (53)	13 (48)	18 (58.1)
Multiple	17 (47)	14 (52)	13 (41.9)
Location of BMEC
Cerebral hemisphere	25 (69)	5 (18)	47 (75.8)
Cerebellum	8 (22)		15 (24.2)
Other	3 (8)	22 (82)
Other metastatic sites
Yes	25 (69)	19 (70)	16 (51.6)
No	11 (31)	8 (30)	15 (48.4)
Treatment for BMEC
Chemotherapy alone	3 (8)	0	3 (9.6)
RT alone	9 (25)	15 (56)	9 (29)
Surgery alone	12 (33)	6 (22)
Surgery + RT	5 (14)	6 (22)	2 (6.5)
Surgery + chemotherapy	1 (3)
Chemotherapy + RT	1 (3)		11 (35.5)
Surgery + RT + chemotherapy	0		4 (12.9)
Palliative care	5 (14)		2 (6.5)

BMEC: Brain metastasis from esophageal carcinoma.