Synchronous occurrence of neuroendocrine colon carcinoma and hairy cell leukemia.
BACKGROUND-PURPOSE: The risk of secondary malignancy development in patients with hairy cell leukemia has been evaluated in several studies with varying results. The aim of this study is to describe a case of synchronous occurrence of neuroendocrine colon carcinoma and hairy cell leukemia.


METHODS
A 69-year-old man presented with rectal bleeding. Colonoscopy revealed a rectal tumor, whereas biopsy specimens revealed a poorly differentiated carcinoma. During the preoperative evaluation, pancytopenia was detected.


RESULTS
At laparotomy, a mass was detected 16 cm from the anal verge and an anterior resection of the rectum was performed. Detailed histological and immunohistochemical analyses revealed a poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma of the rectum. Postoperative evaluation of pancytopenia revealed hairy cell leukemia. The patient was initially treated with chemotherapy for hairy cell leukemia followed by chemotherapy for neuroendocrine colon carcinoma. Survival was 44 months.


CONCLUSIONS
To our knowledge, synchronous occurrence of neuroendocrine colon carcinoma and hairy cell leukemia has not been previously reported in the literature. Given the rare incidence of both entities in the general population, it is highly unlikely that they occurred together by chance. Further research is needed to determine what would be the optimal management options of patients with simultaneous hairy cell leukemia and a neuroendocrine colon cancer.
2nd Department of Surgery, Army General Hospital, Athens, Greece. nikos_salemis@hotmail.com
Nikolaos S
NS
Salemis
Dionisios
D
Pinialidis
Evangelos
E
Tsiambas
Christos
C
Gakis
Georgios
G
Nakos
Dimitrios
D
Sambaziotis
Charalambos
C
Christofyllakis
D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018278:Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D003113:Colonoscopy; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007943:Leukemia, Hairy Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary; D012307:Risk Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome