Esophageal Granular Cell Tumor and Eosinophils: A Multicenter Experience

Background: Esophageal granular cell tumor (eGCT) is rare, and the recent literature suggests a link between eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and eGCT. The aim of our study was to determine if EoE or other disorders associated with eosinophilia are consistently associated with eGCT. Methods: We retrospectively searched pathology databases of three academic institutions from 1999 to 2018 for eGCTs. The archived slides and medical records were reviewed.Results: From 294,855 esophagogastroduodenoscopy procedures, 45 patients (17 males and 28 females) with eGCTs were identified. The patients were 30-73 years in age (median 50) had eGCT (0.2 – 2.0 cm, average 0.71). Thirteen had a history of gastroesophageal reflux disease, 5 had Barrett esophagus/goblet cell metaplasia and 1 had EoE. Thirty-four eGCTs had intralesional eosinophils (14 with peak >10 eosinophils/400x hpf); of these, 21 also had eosinophils in lamina propria (9 with peak >10 eosinophils/hpf). eGCT with atypical features (including nuclear enlargement and prominent nucleoli) were more likely to have increased eosinophils in non-epithelial compartments than those without atypia. Pleomorphism and spindled cells were seen in 3 eGCT cases (mean peak intralesional eosinophils: 43 per hpf); 2 of these had goblet cell metaplasia. We found no association between EoE and eGCT, p= 0.5966, (95% C.I. 0.0276, 6.5389, Fisher’s exact test). Instead, most patients had gastroesophageal reflux disease or Barrett esophagus.Conclusion: Eosinophilia, common in eGCT and adjacent stroma, likely drives atypical/reactive histologic features, but a pathogenic relationship between eosinophil rich inflammatory conditions and eGCT has not yet been established.