Abstract
BackgroundPatients with prolonged inflammatory bowel disease have a greater risk of colorectal cancer, known as colitis-associated cancer. Here we describe an unusual case of colitis-associated cancer.Case presentationThe subject is a 41-year-old male who has not presented digestive symptoms and has an appreciable medical history. He consulted a nearby doctor with left flank pain. A colonoscopy revealed a lateral spreading tumor (granular-type) in his descending colon. With a clinical diagnosis of cancer, D3 left hemicolectomy was performed and a small intestine stoma was constructed. The pathological diagnosis of the tumor was mucinous adenocarcinoma, pT4a(SE), pN2a, which was associated with dysplasia in the surface area. Post-operative ileus was prolonged and the endoscopic examination revealed longitudinal ulcers in the ileum. These ulcers responded quite well to the administration of infliximab, confirming the final diagnosis of Crohn’s disease. Pathological re-examination revealed that the tumor was dysplasia-associated type, and another dysplasia was confirmed near the tumor. Furthermore, mural scars and sporadic lymphoid aggregates were noted in the colon tissues, which suggested pre-existing Crohn’s disease. The patient died of peritoneal dissemination of cancer on day 207 after surgery.ConclusionThe present case was diagnosed as colitis-associated cancer with clinically latent Crohn’s disease, who developed clinically manifest Crohn’s disease only after surgery. Our review of literature revealed no cases comparable to ours.
Highlights
Patients with prolonged inflammatory bowel disease have a greater risk of colorectal cancer, known as colitis-associated cancer
The cause of Crohn’s disease has not been elucidated, and it is regarded as a multifactorial disease for which environmental factors, genetic factors, and immunological abnormality are compounded [1]
We considered the possibility of coexistence of inflammatory lesion near the tumor because of an edematous change of the mucosa (Fig. 2b)
Summary
The cause of Crohn’s disease has not been elucidated, and it is regarded as a multifactorial disease for which environmental factors, genetic factors, and immunological abnormality are compounded [1]. The final diagnosis was mucinous adenocarcinoma associated with dysplasia, in the descending colon, type 5, 50 × 48 mm in size, pT4a (SE) pN2a (4/28), Ly1, V1, cM0, pStage IIIC (UICC TNM classification, 8th ed., and Japanese classification of colorectal carcinoma, 9th ed) [3]. Another dysplasia, not continuous from the main tumor, was confirmed by multiple sampling analyses in the resected specimen approximately 5.2 × 1.8 cm in size The final cause of death was judged as peritoneal dissemination
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