Early local recurrence of rectal cancer showing extremely rapid growth after curative surgery: report of a case.
We report herein the case of a 59-year-old woman who developed a local recurrence of rectal cancer which showed extremely rapid growth. The patient had undergone a curative low anterior resection with total mesoexcision, and was discharged on postoperative day 25 after an uneventful recovery. However, 2 months after the operation, she developed bleeding from the rectum during defecation, the quantity of which gradually increased. A colonoscopy performed during the fifth postoperative month revealed a circular tumor at the suture line. The tumor was unresectable because it had firmly invaded not only the sacrum, but also the right ureter. Despite the administration of 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin, the patient died of cancer 18 months after her initial surgery. Considering that local recurrence of rectal cancer does not usually occur within 1 year after surgery, this case is unusual because the local recurrence developed very early and showed extremely rapid growth, occupying the entire lumen of the rectum by the time it was detected by colonoscopy during the fifth postoperative month.
Yamamura
T
T
Department of Surgery, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Toyoko Hospital, Kawasaki, Japan.
Matsuzaki
H
H
Seo
K
K
Kimura
M
M
Shinagawa
T
T
D003113:Colonoscopy; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed