Abstract
The patient was a 58-year-old man who underwent sigmoidectomy for sigmoid colon cancer. The tumor was diagnosed as moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma and was staged as T3 N0 M0 Stage II (TNM classification) by histopathological examination. Seven years later, abdominal computed tomography and MRI examinations showed a tumorous lesion, 14 mm in diameter, at segment 6/7 of the liver. Laparoscopic partial hepatectomy was performed. Histopathological examination revealed a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma, which was immunohistochemically diagnosed as a metastasis from the sigmoid colon cancer.
Postoperative recurrence of colon cancer occurs mostly within 5 years from the primary resection, and the Japanese guidelines for the treatment of colorectal cancer recommend 5-year follow-up after surgery. The recurrence rate after the first five years from primary surgery in our institution was 0.56%. Recurrence after 5 years from surgery has been reported in various stages of colorectal cancer progression, with a favorable prognosis after resection. Regular screening examinations should be conducted even after 5 years of follow-up in the group at high risk of late recurrence.
