Cronkhite-Canada Syndrome Complicated by Triple Primary Cancers

Abstract

We herein report a case of Cronkhite-Canada syndrome (CCS) complicated with triple primary cancers. The patient was diagnosed with CCS at 65 years of age. At 76 years of age, one of his colon polyps was diagnosed as adenocarcinoma. At 81 years of age, gastric carcinoma was detected. Weight loss and fatigue appeared one month before he visited our hospital. An examination revealed dilatation of the intrahepatic bile duct. Cholangiocarcinoma was diagnosed as a result of bile duct cytology. Patients with CCS should be monitored carefully for carcinoma of systemic organs as well as the gastrointestinal tract.

Clinical and Endoscopic Characteristics of Chinese Cronkhite-Canada Syndrome Patients: A Retrospective Study of 103 cases

“…It is still controversial whether cancer is a coincidence in CCS patients or developed from benign polyps. In general, the overall risk of cancer in CCS is 5-25% [22][23][24].…”

Cronkhite-Canada Syndrome Associated with Metastatic Colon Cancer

“…According to the laboratory results, malabsorption of zinc, calcium, albumin, and total protein was present in this patient. Based on the Goto case series study, patients can be divided into 5 types according to the leading symptom: diarrhea (type 1), dysgeusia (type 2), sensory abnormalities in the mouth accompanied by thirst (type 3), abdominal symptoms other than diarrhea (type 4), and alopecia as a predominant symptom (type 5) [ 10 ]. Based on these categories, our patient had type 5 disease.…”

“…As we have noted, the most important problem associated with CCS is malignancy, and the risk of gastric and colon cancer with CCS is estimated to be 5–25% [ 10 ], especially in the left colon [ 14 ]. It seems that these patients have a tendency for malignancies of the gastrointestinal system, such as cholangiocellular carcinoma, and for giant cell bone tumor and lung cancer [ 6 ].…”

“…It seems that these patients have a tendency for malignancies of the gastrointestinal system, such as cholangiocellular carcinoma, and for giant cell bone tumor and lung cancer [ 6 ]. In addition, some cases of CCS have been associated with cancer in more than one organ [ 10 , 13 , 18 ].…”

“…This syndrome has many complications, some of which are potentially fatal [ 5 ]. The major problem associated with CCS is malignancy with a rate of 5–25% [ 3 , 10 ]. So far, 2 cases of this syndrome without malignancy have been reported in Iran, and in this study, we describe a 64-year-old Iranian male presenting with CCS with metastatic colon cancer [ 11 , 12 ].…”