Alpha-Fetoprotein Producing Carcinoma of Sigmoid Colon; Report of a Case

Hironari Shiwaku, Yoshitaka Tanabe, Yuji Abe, Takaaki Ihara, Toshimitsu Iwashita, Shoshu Mitsuyama, Mari Nakamori¹⁾, Satoshi Toyoshima¹⁾, Tetsuo Hamada²⁾ and Yutaka Hirano³⁾

Department of Surgery and Department of Pathology, Kitakyushu Municipal Medical Center¹⁾
Department of Surgical Pathology²⁾ and Department of Surgery³⁾, Kyushu Rosai Hospital

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) producing colorectal carcinoma is quite rare. We report a case of AFP producing carcinoma of the sigmoid colon with metastatic liver tumor. A 61-year-old woman was performed sigmoidectomy for sigmoid colon cancer at another hospital. Eight months after the operation, CT showed a huge metastatic hepatic tumor in the right lobe, and she admitted to our hospital for an operation. On admission, the serum AFP level was extremely high (1,463.7 ng/ml). The patient underwent right hepatolobectomy with curative intent. Immunohistochemically, as both the primary and metastatic lesion showed positive reaction for AFP, we could diagnose alpha-fetoprotein producing carcinoma of the sigmoid colon and metastatic liver tumor. AFP producing colon cancer is quite rare and this patient is the 34th case in Japan. Furthermore, AFP producing colon cancer with neuroendcrine differentiation is quite rare.

Key words
alpha-fetoprotein, colon cancer, neuroendcrine tumor

Reprint requests
Hironari Shiwaku Department of Surgery, Kitakyushu Municipal Medical Center
2-1-1 Bashaku, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu, 802-0077 JAPAN

Accepted
May 31, 2006

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