Spontaneous regression of colorectal cancer: a review of cases from 1900 to 2005

Abstract

In this review, the literature of spontaneous regression of colon or rectal cancer is reviewed from 1965 to 2005 to update reviews by Everson et al., Boyd and Challis et al. By adding to these, the author reports the entire series of colorectal cancer, which underwent documented spontaneous regression from 1900 to 2005. The demographic and pathologic characteristics, the details of regression and the outcome of reported cases are presented and discussed. Special emphasis is placed on identifying possible causes hypothesized by authors for occurrence of regression. Possible mechanisms operating to affect these regressions are also discussed.

What Is an Exceptional Cancer Trajectory?: Multiple Stakeholder Perspectives on Cancer Trajectories in Relation to Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use

“…10,11,35 According to Kappauf,35 the risk of equating the concept of exceptional with "miracle cures" has led to reluctance among BHC professionals to focus their attention on exceptional sickness trajectories. Although it is possible that miracle cures serve as a tool for the promotion of certain CAM, our results indicate that both CAM and BHC providers in this study shared a tendency to attribute positive sickness trajectories to their own realm of knowledge and practice.…”

“…18(p17) Although debate is still ongoing about the relationship between biological and psychological mechanisms in the cancer context, 19 the role of psychological mechanisms continues to be minimized in biomedical studies on spontaneous regression or exceptional cancer survival. For example, in reviewing mechanisms underlying cancer regression both Papac 10 and Abdelrazeq 11 conclude that psychological interventions cannot induce cancer regression. The study by Gotay et al 20 on quality of life among exceptional cancer survivors and the recent research by Andersen et al 21 indicating increased survival with psychological intervention are examples of the relatively few empirical studies explicitly designed to combine psychosocial approaches with biomedical parameters.…”

“…Within biomedical literature, exceptional cancer survival is often discussed in terms of "spontaneous regression" (also called "spontaneous remission"), which Papac called "one of the most fascinating phenomena observed in medicine" 10(p395) and defined as "the complete or partial disappearance of malignant tumour in the absence of therapy that is capable of inducing anti-neoplastic effects." 10(p395) Spontaneous regression has been studied and documented in literature reviews, 11,12 case studies, 13 and theoretical discussions. 10 Spontaneous regression has been reported in relation to nearly all cancer forms, but is said to be more likely to occur in some diagnoses, with renal cell carcinoma, neuroblastoma, and malignant melanoma named as examples.…”

Activism among exceptional patients with cancer

“…The rare occurrence of remarkable recovery against all odds, totally inexplicable but real, is something that most oncologists have seen in their practice. In the past, other terms have been used to describe the phenomenon: "spontaneous remission," "spontaneous healing," "spontaneous regression," "miracle cures," " remarkable recovery," "resilient cancer survivor," and "exceptional disease course" [2][3][4][5]. For the purpose of this paper, we will use the term "exceptional patient(s).…”

Spontaneous Regression of Clear Cell Carcinoma of the Endometrium

“…On cellular level the induction of spontaneous regression is completed by either cell differentiation or cell death [5]. In some cases tumour regression was preceded by surgical procedures [6]- [8]; the role of infectious agents and febrile reaction [9]- [13] as well as changes in metabolic processes (especially glucose metabolism) [14] [15] in the regression of cancer is also well documented.…”