Cancer of the Appendix in Long-Standing Ulcerative Colitis: A Case Report

Abstract

Cancer of the appendix was found in a 69-year-old female patient affected by long-standing ulcerative colitis (UC). On histological examination the cancer was a typical cystadenocarcinoma of the appendix. The appendiceal mucosa not invaded by the neoplastic process was normal. Histological examination of the colorectal mucosa did not show dysplasia or cancer. These findings suggest that appendiceal cancer and UC may be unrelated diseases. A surveillance program for early detection of cancer of the appendix in patients with long-standing UC does not seem mandatory.

Appendix adenocarcinoma associated with ulcerative colitis: a case report and literature review

“…Our patient's case is the first one reported in Mexico and supports Zannoni et al's description of 1997 [6]. We did not identify in the surgical specimen pancolonic affection or a cecal appendix involvement related to ulcerative colitis; we did not even identify any chronic inflammatory change in the proximal colon, suggesting a previous pancolonic affection.…”

“…In 1997, Zannoni et al [6] reported a patient with a long evolved UC history who developed a cystadenocarcinoma of the appendix where no appendix affection was found related to UC.…”

“…More than half of patients with pancolonic affection have appendix involvement [4]. The association between UC and appendix cancer is uncommon, and in most of the reported cases dysplasia of the colonic mucosa has not been identified [5,6]. We report a case of UC associated with an appendix adenocarcinoma.…”

Appendiceal Mucinous Cystadenoma is a Neoplastic Complication Of IBD: Case-Control Study of Primary Appendiceal Neoplasms

“…[1][2][3] Although appendiceal inflammation occurs histologically in 40%-86% of colectomy specimens from patients with IBD, 4 -10 appendiceal neoplasms have been reported only infrequently, [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] and the notion of a direct association between IBD and appendiceal neoplasia is speculative.…”

Adenocarcinoma of the appendix associated with long-standing Crohns disease

“…The extent and duration of disease are directly related to the increased risk. Although the appendix has been shown to be involved in more than 50% of cases of pancolitis [4], only four cases of appendiceal carcinoma associated with UC have been published [5,6,7,8]. All four cases had long-standing UC.…”