Primary Rectal Cancer from Outside the Rectum

Abstract

Rectal cancer typically arises from the epithelial cells lining the lumen of the rectum. Extra-luminal primary rectal cancers are rare and differ histologically from retrorectal and sacral tumors. The current report presents the case of a 44 year-old male who developed adenocarcinoma outside of the lumen of the rectum 38 years after he underwent a pull-through procedure for Hirschsprung's disease. We hypothesize that the tumor emerged from an excluded, entrapped segment of rectal mucosa at the time of the patient's childhood procedure.