Eight-year survival with metastatic oesophageal carcinoma: a case report and review of the literature

Oesophageal cancer is common and holds a poor prognosis, with an estimated 604 000 new cases in 2020 and 544 000 deaths globally. South Africa has an incidence of 4.41 and 2.39 new cases of oesophageal cancer per 100 000 males and females respectively, with up to 95% predominance of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Five-year survival in patients with distant metastasis is less than 5%. We present a remarkable case of a patient with metastatic oesophageal SCC who survived eight years post-palliative chemotherapy despite being lost to follow-up.