Colonic neuroendocrine cell carcinoma (NEC) is a rare colon cancer. Most NEC patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage and subsequently have a poor prognosis. We report our experience with early-stage NEC.
A lower gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed on a 77-year-old man with a positive fecal occult blood test. A laterally spreading tumor (25 mm diameter) with nodules was observed in the lower rectum. A biopsy of the nodular region led to a NEC diagnosis after positive MNF-116, CD56, and CG-A immunostains ; the Ki-67 labeling index was approximately 70% by immunohistochemistry. Regional lymph node metastases or distant metastases were not found. The patient underwent a low anterior resection following computed tomographic cystography. The final pathological diagnosis was : rectal NEC, T1b (SM) , ly1, v1, pN0, pM0, and pathological stage I. We describe a rare case of early-stage NEC.
