Sarcomatoid Carcinoma of Colon: Report of a Case of Long-Term Survival with Disease

Abstract

Sarcomatoid carcinoma of colon is an extremely rare biphasic tumor characterized by a combination of malignant epithelial and sarcomatoid cells. The known characteristics are rapid growth, high rate of recurrence and metastasis, drugs resistance and poor prognosis with median survival less than 6 months. Precise diagnosis warranted histological examination, immunohistochemistry study and exclusion of other diseases, such as carcinosarcoma, sarcomatous mesothelioma and stromal tumor. Herein we report a case of patient who had a sarcomatoid carcinoma of ascending colon and still been alive for 44 months with liver and peritoneal metastasis after two subsequent operations and multiple cycles of chemotherapy. By far, only two patients with colon sarcomatoid carcinoma were reported to survive longer than this case, which deserved to be researched in details on diagnosis, clinical characteristics, therapy and outcome.

Colorectal Carcinoma With Sarcomatoid Components

“…We identified 50 previously reported cases of CRC with sarcomatoid components in our literature review, nearly always under the moniker of either carcinosarcoma or sarcomatoid carcinoma 4–53 . These are summarized in Supplemental Table 1, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/PAS/B738, though most cases were not published in the pathology literature, various clinicopathologic details were not available for most cases, and a few cases were not published in English or were not accessible.…”

“…Carcinoma with sarcomatoid components is extremely rare, with ~50 reported cases 4–53 and one National Cancer Database search 54 previously published in the literature, the former exclusively as single-case reports. These publications usually employed the term “carcinosarcoma” or “sarcomatoid carcinoma,” with the specific term “carcinoma with sarcomatoid components” not used in the literature before the 2019 publication of the latest WHO classification.…”