Abstract: Background and purpose: Esophageal cancer is common malignant tumor of digestive system. The prognosis of hypopharyngeal carcinoma, the most common type of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, comorbid with esophageal cancer is poor. Therefore, early diagnosis is critical to improving survival. The purpose of this study was to investigate the importance of gastroscopy in the early diagnosis of hypopharyngeal carcinoma comorbid with esophageal cancer and its clinical characteristics. Methods: Of the 226 patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma in Tumor Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from Feb. 2013 to Sep. 2019, the clinical data of 40 patients who underwent gastroscopy and the clinical characteristics of patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma comorbid with esophageal cancer were retrospectively analyzed. Then, we compared and analyzed the survival rate of patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma with or without gastroscopy. Results: Of the 226 patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma, 40 patients (17.7%) underwent gastroscopy. Among them, 36 cases were diagnosed as hypopharyngeal carcinoma comorbid with esophageal cancer (90.0%), including 29 cases of synchronous cancers (80.6%) and 7 cases of metachronous cancers (19.4%). The median age of these 36 patients was 56.5 (47.3, 62.5) years. Among them, there were 32 males (88.9%), 25 cases with a history of smoking (69.4%), 24 cases with a history of drinking (66.7%), 23 cases with tumor in piriform fossa (63.9%) and 25 cases of nodular masses (69.4%). Thirty-one cases of esophageal cancer showed raised lesions (86.1%), and 5 cases had lesions without elevation, of which 3 were esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and 2 were carcinoma in situ. There was no statistically significant difference in the survival curves between 156 patients without gastroscopy and 32 patients with gastroscopy (P>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the pathological differentiation of hypopharyngeal cancer between 186 patients without gastroscopy and 40 patients with gastroscopy (P>0.05). Conclusion: Gastroscopy is important in the early diagnosis of hypopharyngeal carcinoma comorbid with esophageal cancer. Therefore, routine examination and follow-up gastroscopy in patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma are recommended. The important clinical features of patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma comorbid with esophageal cancer include middle age, male, smoking and drinking, which provide a basis for early clinical targeted intervention.

Key words: Hypopharyngeal carcinoma, Esophageal cancer, Gastroscopy, Clinical features