title: Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the sigmoid colon: report of a case.
abstract: Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the colon is a rare entity; however, this type of tumor is known for its aggressive progression and poor prognosis. A case of a 56-year-old Japanese male is presented in this report. A huge, child's head-sized tumor was found to have grown extraluminally on the sigmoid colon with multiple liver metastases. The tumor measured 16.5 x 15 x 8.2 cm in size and weighed 1 300 g. The patient died of hepatic failure due to massive liver metastases 6 months after operation. The pathological findings including an electron microscopic analysis were correlated with those of neuroendocrine carcinoma. We reviewed the English literature, and analyzed 94 cases of neuroendocrine carcinoma which had been reported previously. The nomenclature and definition of this disease still remains somewhat unclear, and not a small population of this disease may thus have been misdiagnosed and treated as other less aggressive entities. The necessity to make an accurate differential diagnosis in such cases is thus emphasized.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Surgery, Institute of Geriatrics and Medical Science, Osaka City University Medical School, 1-4-3 Asahi-machi, Abeno.ku, Osaka 545-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Onoda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Satake
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitada
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Seki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wakasa
mesh_terms: D018278:Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012811:Sigmoid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery