Baseline information
The average age of the 261 patients was 60.97 ± 8.12; the average long diameter of the lesions was 1.70 ± 1.00 CM and the average short diameter was 1.06 ± 0.57 CM; among them, 177 were male and 84 were female; 142 had a history of smoking and 119 didn't; 151 had a history of alcohol consumption and 110 didn't. there were 147 cases of complete leukoplakia-type lesions and 114 cases of mixed-type lesions. As for lesion morphology, 90 cases showed IIa, 19 cases IIb, and 152 cases IIa + IIb. There are 243 cases with clear lesion boundaries and 18 cases with unclear boundaries. IPCL was not visible in 101 cases and was visible in 160 cases under NBI magnification, of which those with visible IPCL all showed B1 type. The leukoplakia of all lesions are irregular in shape and uneven in thickness. Lugol's iodine staining showed light staining in 72 cases, no staining in 139 cases, and 50 patients did not undergo Lugol's iodine staining. The background of the esophagus was mottled esophagus in 196 cases and non-mottled esophagus in 65 cases; the lesions were located in the upper esophagus in 23 cases, the middle esophagus in 121 cases, and the lower esophagus in 117 cases. Pathologically, there were 39 cases of low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia; 144 cases of high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (M1); and 78 cases of intrinsic invasive squamous cell carcinoma (M2). Table 1 shows the Baseline information on early esophageal lesions with leukoplakia as the main manifestation.
Table 1
Baseline information on early esophageal lesions with leukoplakia as the main manifestation
baseline information | Categories | Number of cases | Average values (x̅±s) |
Age | — | — | 60.97 ± 8.12 |
Long diameter of the lesion (CM) | — | — | 1.70 ± 1.00 |
Short diameter of the lesion(CM) | — | — | 1.06 ± 0.57 |
Sex | male | 177 | |
| female | 84 | |
Smoking history | current/past smoker | 142 | |
| never smoker | 119 | |
Drinking history | current/past drinker | 151 | |
| never drinker | 110 | |
Lesion coloration | complete leukoplakia type | 147 | |
| mixed type | 114 | |
Morphology of lesions | IIa | 90 | |
| IIb | 19 | |
| IIa + IIb | 152 | |
Lesion border | well-defined border | 243 | |
| no clear border | 18 | |
IPCL | invisible | 101 | |
| visible | 160 | |
Morphology of the leukoplakia | regular | 0 | |
| irregular | 261 | |
Thickness of the leukoplakia | even | 0 | |
| uneven | 261 | |
Lugol's iodine staining | lightly stained | 72 | |
| unstained | 139 | |
| undone | 50 | |
Esophageal background | mottled esophagus | 196 | |
| non-mottled esophagus | 65 | |
Lesion location | upper of the esophagus | 23 | |
| middle of the esophagus | 121 | |
| lower of the esophagus | 117 | |
pathological findings | low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia | 39 | |
| high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia(M1) | 144 | |
| Intrinsic intramembranous invasive squamous cell carcinoma(M2) | 78 | |
The 261 lesions were divided into two subgroups, complete leukoplakia type and mixed type, according to the color of the lesions, and the characteristics of endoscopic, pathological and clinical data between the two groups were statistically analyzed separately. Table 2 shows the Endoscopic, pathologic, and clinical characteristics of the complete leukoplakia type group and the mixed type group.
Table 2
Endoscopic, pathologic, and clinical characteristics of the complete leukoplakia type group and the mixed type group.
Baseline information | Categories | complete leukoplakia type | Mixed type | P | Statistical methods |
Age | | 59.69 ± 7.88 | 62.62 ± 8.19 | <0.01 | t-test |
Long diameter of the lesion (CM) | | 1.29 ± 0.66 | 2.22 ± 1.13 | <0.01 | t-test |
Short diameter of the lesion(CM) | | 0.87 ± 0.43 | 1.31 ± 0.63 | <0.01 | t-test |
Sex | male | 107 | 70 | 0.051 | X2 test |
| female | 40 | 44 | | |
Smoking history | current/past smoker | 81 | 61 | 0.798 | X2 test |
| never smoker | 66 | 53 | | |
Drinking history | current/past drinker | 89 | 62 | 0.318 | X2 test |
| never drinker | 58 | 52 | | |
Morphology of lesions | IIa | 90 | 0 | <0.01 | X2 test |
| IIb | 8 | 11 | | |
| IIa + IIb | 49 | 103 | | |
Border of lesions | clear | 141 | 102 | 0.042 | X2 test |
| unclear | 6 | 12 | | |
IPCL | visible | 46 | 114 | <0.01 | X2 test |
| invisible | 101 | 0 | | |
Morphology of the leukoplakia | regular | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| irregular | 147 | 114 | | |
Thickness of the leukoplakia | even | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| uneven | 147 | 114 | | |
Lugol's iodine staining | lightly stained | 64 | 8 | <0.01 | X2 test |
| unstained | 50 | 89 | | |
| undone | 33 | 17 | | |
Esophageal background | mottled esophagus | 106 | 90 | 0.205 | X2 test |
| non-mottled esophagus | 41 | 24 | | |
Lesion location | upper of the esophagus | 12 | 11 | 0.038 | X2 test |
| middle of the esophagus | 59 | 62 | | |
| lower of the esophagus | 76 | 41 | | |
pathological findings | low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia | 33 | 6 | <0.01 | X2 test |
| high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia(M1) | 82 | 62 | | |
| Intrinsic intramembranous invasive squamous cell carcinoma(M2) | 32 | 46 | | |
The average age of the patients in the complete leukoplakia type group was 59.69 ± 7.88, and the mean age in the mixed type group was 62.62 ± 8.19, with statistical differences between the groups;
In the complete leukoplakia type group, the average long diameter of the lesion was 1.29 ± 0.66 CM, and the average short diameter was 0.87 ± 0.43 CM; in the mixed type group, the average long diameter of the lesion was 2.22 ± 1.13 CM, and the average short diameter was 1.31 ± 0.63 CM, with statistical differences between the groups;
There were 107 male patients and 40 female patients in the complete leukoplakia type group, and 70 male patients and 44 female patients in the mixed type group, with no statistical difference between the groups;
There were 81 patients with a history of smoking and 66 patients without a history of smoking in the complete leukoplakia group, and 61 patients with a history of smoking and 53 patients without a history of smoking in the mixed group, with no statistical difference between the groups;
There were 89 patients with a history of alcohol consumption, and 58 patients without in the complete leukoplakia type group, 62 patients with a history of alcohol consumption, and 52 patients without in the mixed type group. There is no statistical difference between groups;
The lesions in the complete leukoplakia group showed 90 cases of IIa, 8 cases of IIb, and 49 cases of IIa + IIb, and the lesions in the mixed group showed 0 cases of IIa, 11 cases of IIb, and 103 cases of IIa + IIb, with statistically significant differences between the groups;
There were 141 cases with clear lesion borders and 6 cases with unclear lesion borders in the complete leukoplakia group, 102 cases with clear lesion borders, and 12 cases with unclear lesion borders in the mixed group, with no statistical difference between the groups;
Both the complete white spot group and the mixed group showed irregular white spot patterns and uneven white spot thickness;
As for Lugol's iodine staining, the complete leukoplakia group showed 64 cases of light staining, 50 cases of no staining, and 33 cases of no iodine staining; the mixed group showed 8 cases of light staining, 89 cases of no staining, and 17 cases of no iodine staining, with statistical differences between the groups;
There were 106 cases of esophageal background manifesting as mottled esophagus and 41 cases of non-mottled esophagus in the group of complete leukoplakia type, and 90 cases of mottled esophagus and 24 cases of non-mottled esophagus in the group of mixed type, and there was no statistically significant difference between the groups;
In the complete leukoplakia group, 12 lesions were located in the upper esophagus, 59 in the middle esophagus, and 76 in the lower esophagus, while in the mixed group, 11 lesions were located in the upper esophagus, 62 in the middle esophagus, and 41 in the lower esophagus, and there was no statistically significant difference between the groups;
There were 33 cases of low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia in the complete leukoplakia group, 82 cases of M1, 32 cases of M2, and 6 cases of low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia in the mixed group, 62 cases of M1, and 46 cases of M2, with a statistically significant difference between the groups.
Case 1
Low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia
Figure1.Endoscopy Description: A flaky leukoplakia was seen in the esophagus (32CM from the incisors), about 1.0*0.6 CM in size, with clear borders, irregular morphology, uneven thickness, and cloudy surface; IPCL was not visible after NBI Magnifying Endoscopy, and it showed a light stain after Lugol's iodine staining.
Figure2 (a,b). 1–2 layers of cells at the base of the mucosa were densely arranged, with an enlarged nucleoplasm ratio, eosinophilic cytoplasm, and growing downward in a angle of emergence way, with a distinct granular layer and significant keratinization of the mucosal surface, and a low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia manifestation.
Case 2
High-grade intraepithelial neoplasia
Figure3.Endoscopy Description: In the esophagus (38CM-40CM from the incisors), a flaky leukoplakia was seen, about 1.5*1.0CM in size, with clear borders, irregular morphology, uneven thickness, cloudy surface, biopsy scar was seen on the anal side, IPCL was not visible after NBI Magnifying Endoscopy, and iodine staining was unstained.
Figure4. (a,b). Squamous epithelial cells with significant heterogeneity were located in the lower 1/2 layer of the mucosa, with a marked tendency to grow downward, and the superficial layer of the mucosa appeared to have a distinct granular layer and significant keratinization, presenting as high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (M1).
Case 3
High-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (M1) and localized invasive squamous cell carcinoma within the lamina propria (M2)
Figure5.Endoscopy Description: In the esophagus (31CM-33CM from the incisors), a roughly patchy mucosa was seen, with a mixture of leukoplakia and erythema, with leukoplakia predominantly, and areas of erythema were seen at the edges and central part, measuring about 1.7*1.7CM.The leukoplakia was irregular in morphology, uneven in thickness, with a cloudy surface, IPCL was not visible at the leukoplakia after NBI Magnifying Endoscopy and was visible at the erythematous spots in a B1 pattern, and Lugol's iodine staining showed unstained.
Figure6. (a). Comparison of leukoplakia and erythematous area, the right side of the picture represents the leukoplakia area and the left side represents the erythematous area. (b,c). On the leukoplakia area, the squamous epithelial cells with significant heterogeneous rows exceeded 1/2 layer of the mucosa, and there were increased nucleated cells in the superficial layer of the mucosa, with obvious eosinophilic cytoplasm, and keratinized granules were seen, presenting the change of keratosis imperfect. (d,e). On the erythema area, the squamous epithelial cells of the whole layer showed significant heterogeneous rows, and the vascular papillae were upwardly prolonged. High-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (M1) and localized invasive squamous cell carcinoma within the lamina propria (M2) were present.