Colonic Medullary Carcinoma: A Rare Case

Abstract

Medullary carcinoma is a rare subtype of colorectal cancer making up less than 0.1% of all colorectal malignancies. This subtype can be confused with poorly differentiated colorectal carcinoma due to undifferentiated complexion morphology and high mitotic activity. Medullary carcinoma is a subtype of colonic adenocarcinoma with a better prognosis than other subtypes. This subtype is important because of the expansive growth pattern and high microsatellite instability. Medullary carcinoma is often right sided and is more frequent in older females and has lower incidence of lymph node metastases. In our case, the patient presented with complaints of abdominal pain and rectal bleeding due to a 5 cm wide colonic mass located at the transverse colon. Resection of the specimen revealed medullary colonic carcinoma.

Keywords

• Medullary
• colon
• carcinoma