Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Descending Colon: Report of a Case and Literature Review

Abstract

It is very rare that squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) arises from colorectal epithelium. An 89-year-old man was treated in 2001 with chief complaints of anorexia, abdominal pain, and low grade fever. The histological diagnosis as SCC was determined by biopsy during a colonoscopy. We diagnosed primary SCC of the colon because except in the colon no malignant lesions were found by systemic CT. Surgical complete resection was performed. However, he died three months after surgical resection because of hepatic metastasis and cachexia. The prognosis of this disease seems to be worse than that of adenocarcinoma.

Primary Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Descending Colon

“…The colorectal SCCs appear to be more frequently locally invasive and more likely to involve regional lymph nodes than the adenocarcinomas, probably due to delayed diagnosis [6]. In this case, the tumor was pT3 with lymph node involvement.…”

“…It is very rare that SCC arises from the colorectal epithelium [6]. Schmidtman published the first report of a pure SCC of the colon in 1919 [6]. Since then, less than 150 cases have appeared in the literature [7].…”

“…Miyamoto et al suggested that certain criteria are required before a diagnosis of primary SCC of the colon is made [6]. First, metastasis from other sites to the bowel must be excluded.…”

Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Sigmoid Colon Presenting With Severe Hypercalcemia

“…Histologic studies of colorectal adenocarcinomas have identified areas of squamous differentiation, suggesting the possibility that these carcinomas may arise from preexisting adenomas or adenocarcinomas. 4,5,8 Other coexisting conditions associated with SCC of the colorectum include colonic duplication 15 and the presence of malignancies, such as ovarian, prostate, endometrial, and breast cancer. 2,3 Patients with second malignancies may have a genetic predisposition for tumor formation, but information on this possibility is not available in patients with colorectal SCC.…”

Basaloid Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Rectum: A Rare Entity

“…In Japan, Murakami et al described the first case of a pure SCC of the colon in 1974 [13]. It has been suggested that a number of criteria must be satisfied before a diagnosis of primary squamous cell carcinoma of the large bowel is entertained [3,14,15]: (1) there must be no evidence in any other organ of a squamous cell carcinoma that might spread directly into the lower bowel or provide a source of intestinal metastases, (2) the affected bowel should not be involved in a fistulous tract lined with squamous cells (colocutaneous fistulas have been described in association with squamous cell cancer), (3) when squamous cell carcinoma occurs in the rectum, care must be taken to exclude origin from the anal canal (that is, there should be a lack of continuity between the lesion and the anal canal epithelium), and (4) SCC must be confirmed by histological analysis. Our case satisfied all the above criteria.…”