A Resected Case of Solitary Adrenal Metastasis from Carcinoma of the Colon

Masanori Ozawa, Kohei Ochiai, Masahiro Fujita, Hiroshi Moriya, Hitoshi Ohyama, Gaku Shindo, Yasuhiro Sakuraba

Department of Surgery, Hakodate Municipal Hospital

A very rare case of solitary adrenal metastasis from carcinoma of the colon is reported. A 46-year-old man underwent an emergency operation for acute peritonitis caused by perforation of a simple ulcer of the ileum. At the same time, cancer of the descending colon was detected and left hemicolectomy was performed. Ten months after the operation, a high serum CEA level was found and further examination revealed a right adrenal tumor. The tumor was easily resected and histologically showed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma similar to that of the prior colon cancer. Thus the tumor was diagnosed as a solitary adrenal metastasis because of absence of recurrent foci. Six cases with resection of solitary adrenal metastasis from cancer of the colon and rectum are seen to this time in Japan. The almost patients were males and an increase of a tumor marker was useful for diagnosing cancer recurrence. It was suggested that the metastatic adrenal tumors developed expansively and that adrenalectomy was not only easy to performe, but also beneficial for prolonging survival time.

Key words
metastasis of the colon and rectum, solitary adrenal metastasis, tumor marker

Reprint requests
Masanori Ozawa Department of Surgery, Hakodate Municipal Hospital
2-33 Yayoicho, Hakodate, 040 JAPAN

Accepted
March 6, 1996

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