Two Resected Cases of Double Cancer of the Liver and the Colon

Shoji Kubo, Hiroaki Kinoshita, Kazuhiro Hirohashi, Ryutaro Iwasa, Nagahisa Fujio, Hiromu Tanaka, Tadashi Tsukamoto, Katsuhiko Horii, Hiroyuki Hanba

Second Department of Surgery, Osaka City University Medical School

Two cases of resected double cancer of the liver and the colon are reported. In case 1, the patient was a 67-year-old woman with the chief complaint of loss of weight. The levels of carcinoembryonic antigen and α-fetoprotein were high. Ultrasonography, computed tomography and arteriography revealed a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A barium enema and fiberscopy revealed a cancer in the ascending colon. Right hemicolectomy and lateral segmentectomy of the liver were performed because she had cirrhosis of the liver. The patient died 1 year and 8 months after surgery because of recurrence of HCC. In case 2, the patient was a 54-year-old man who underwent sigmoidectomy for cancer of the sigmoid colon. A hepatic tumor was detected by sonography 3 years after the first operation. The patient was diagnosed as having HCC by angiography and aspiration biopsy. Tumor markers and sonography are useful for detecting double cancer of the liver and the colon. Angiography and biopsy are useful for diagnosing this disease. Whether or not surgery is indicated should be determined depending on both HCC and cirrhosis because the prognosis of this disease depends on the prognosis of HCC. The operation for both cancers at the same time can be done without complications.

Key words
double cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, colon cancer

Reprint requests
Shoji Kubo Second Department of Surgery, Osaka City University Medical School
1-5-7 Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka, 545 JAPAN

Accepted
December 10, 1991

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