Letters To The Editor
Copyright ©2013 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 21, 2013; 19(27): 4443-4444
Published online Jul 21, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i27.4443
Triple metachronous colon cancer
Hugh J Freeman
Hugh J Freeman, Department of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC VT 1W5, Canada
Author contributions: Freeman HJ contributed solely to this work.
Correspondence to: Hugh J Freeman, MD, FRCPC, FACP, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC VT 1W5, Canada. hugfree@shaw.ca
Telephone: +1-604-8227235 Fax: +1-604-8227236
Received: April 19, 2013
Revised: June 3, 2013
Accepted: June 19, 2013
Published online: July 21, 2013
Abstract

A 72-year-old male with an early stage “node-negative” sigmoid colon cancer developed 2 separate “node-negative” early stage colon cancers during a subsequent colonoscopy surveillance regimen, the first in the descending colon 7 years later, and the second in the cecum almost 14 years after the first cancer was resected. After the initial symptomatic cancer, all subsequent neoplastic disease, including malignant cancers were completely asymptomatic. This entity, multiple primary cancers, likely reflected the use of a colonoscopic surveillance regimen.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer, Surveillance colonoscopy, Multiple primary cancer syndrome, Metachronous colorectal cancer

Core tip: Detection of increasing numbers of asymptomatic metachronous colon cancers may result from widening use of surveillance colonoscopy in patients with a previously treated early stage colon cancer.