Abstract
A 76-year-old woman who visited another hospital because of abdominal distention late in April 2009 underwent colonoscopy and was found to have a 20-mm diameter elevated lesion at the ileocecal region. Following a biopsy, well-differentiated adenocarcinoma was diagnosed. The patient was referred to our hospital for close exploration and treatment. An abdominal contrast-enhanced CT scan taken in the middle of May failed to show any tumors. At the beginning of June, laparoscopic-assisted right hemicolectomy was performed. The resected specimen involved no tumorous lesions. Intraoperative colonoscopy performed to confirm the absence of tumorous lesions showed no lesions in the other sites as well. It raised the possibility that the lesion might spontaneously be dislodged. On histopathology, neither scar nor residual cancer was revealed in the cecum. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged from our hospital late in June.
We sometimes encounter reports on spontaneous regression of hematological malignancy or cancer of the genital organs, however, spontaneous regression of colorectal cancer is extremely rare and this case is presented here with some bibliographic comments.
