Abstract
A 73-year-old man required a right hemicolectomy for ascending colon cancer stage IIIa. Four months after surgery, during adjuvant chemotherapy with 5-FU/l-leucovorin, a left axillary mass was noted. CT demonstrated an enlarged left axillary lesion, 3.5 cm in size, and FDG-PET scan showed a solitary tracer uptake in the left axillary fossa. A needle biopsy was done. On histology, a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma consistent with a colon cancer metastasis was found. An axillary lymph node dissection was performed. 6 courses of modified FOLFOX6 were administered. The patient is alive and without recurrence for 4 years and 6 month since left axillary surgery.
An axillary lymph node is an uncommon metastasis site for colorectal cancer. A definitive explanation for metastasis occurring in the left axillary lymph node is lacking, and treatment protocols have not been established. We reported a case with a solitary left axillary lymph node arising from ascending colon cancer, who survived for 4.5 years after surgery and chemotherapy.
