Abstract
A 55-year old woman was referred to our hospital because of a positive fecal occult blood test during a mass screening examination. She had undergone a polypectomy of the rectum 4 years and 2 months previ- ously. The polypectomy specimen was a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma. No other surgical resections were performed, and a follow-up examination performed one year and four months after polypectomy pro- duced no abnormal findings. After her referral to our hospital, a colonoscopy showed a submucosal tumor-like lesion in the rectum. A chest X-ray roentogenogram showed multiple coin lesions. We diagnosed a local recur- rence and multiple lung metastases. An operation was therefore performed. The local recurrence occurred at the same site as the previous, polypectomized region. After a review of the previous polypectomized speci- men, vessel invasion was identified. The patient was diagnosed as having a recurrence of sm1 rectal cancer. The recurence of sm1 colorectal cancer is very rare.
