Early Signet-ring Cell Carcinoma of the Colon: Two Cases of Report

Kenji Baba, Sumiya Ishigami, Masaki Kitazono, Yutaka Chuman, Takashi Ishizawa and Shoji Natsugoe

Department of Surgical Oncology and Digestive Surgery, Kagoshima University School of Medicine

We report two cases of early signet-ring cell carcinoma of the colon. Case 1: A 61-year-old man undergoing colonoscopy and found to have a flat elevated lesion with a central depression in the cecum was diagnosed pathologically with adenocarcinoma, necessitating right hemicolectomy with lymph node dissection. Histologically, signet-ring cell carcinoma had infiltrated into the submucosal layer. The man remains healthy without tumor recurrence nine years after surgery. Case 2: An 80-year-old man undergoing postoperative colonoscopy after sigmoid colon cancer surgery was found to have a sessile cecal polyp resected endoscopically, histologically to be differentiated adenocarcinoma with signet-ring cell carcinoma massively infiltrating the submucosal layer, necessitating additional laparoscopic ileocecal resection. Histologically, no residual carcinoma or nodal metastasis was found. He was died two years postoperatively of septicemia without tumor relapse. Patients with early signet ring cell carcinoma of the colon thus have a favorable outcome when undergoing curative surgery with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.

Key words
signet-ring cell carcinoma, early colon cancer, surgery

Reprint requests
Kenji Baba Department of Surgical Oncology and Digestive Surgery, Kagoshima University School of Medicine
8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima, 890-8520 JAPAN

Accepted
July 22, 2009

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