Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Apr 15, 2021; 13(4): 305-311
Published online Apr 15, 2021. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v13.i4.305
Crohn’s disease with infliximab treatment complicated by rapidly progressing colorectal cancer: A case report
Lin Xiao, Lie Sun, Kang Zhao, Yi-Sheng Pan
Lin Xiao, Lie Sun, Kang Zhao, Yi-Sheng Pan, Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China
Author contributions: Xiao L collected patient data and drafting of manuscript; Sun L performed image processing; Zhao K composed manuscript; Pan YS revised and provided recommendation for the manuscript; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yi-Sheng Pan, MD, Doctor, Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, No. 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China. bdyypanyisheng@163.com
Received: October 22, 2020
Peer-review started: October 22, 2020
First decision: January 7, 2021
Revised: January 16, 2021
Accepted: March 7, 2021
Article in press: March 7, 2021
Published online: April 15, 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Crohn's disease (CD) causes a range of digestive symptoms including recurrent diarrhea, abdominalgia, and flatulence, and severely impacts the quality of life of patients. Infliximab, a monoclonal antibody against tumor necrosis factor alpha, has recently been promoted as a therapeutic treatment for CD, but its safety margins remain uncertain. We report a case of rapidly progressive colorectal cancer that was diagnosed in a patient with CD who had previously been treated with infliximab.

CASE SUMMARY

This case report refers to a 40-year-old male with a 6-year history of CD. The patient underwent transverse colostomy because of inflammatory ileus in 2017. He subsequently received infliximab treatment in 2018. Ten months later, worsening contracture of the transverse colostomy was observed. Imaging tests indicated that the patient may have developed colon cancer with extensive peritoneal implantation. At the same time, colonoscopy revealed a rectal mass and pathological examination indicated well-differentiated adenocarcinoma. Palliative ileostomy was performed to improve defecation in 2019. During the operation, a small nodular mass in the mesentery of the small intestine was identified and pathological examination of the mass revealed advanced adenocarcinoma. The patient was diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer and administered palliative chemotherapy. He died in June 2020.

CONCLUSION

We stress the importance of recognizing the possible occurrence of malignance in patients with CD receiving infliximab.

Keywords: Crohn's disease, Infliximab, Colon cancer, Rectum cancer, Inflammatory bowel disease, Tumor necrosis factor, Case report

Core Tip: Crohn’s disease can result in diffuse intestinal lesions, including intestinal edema, stenosis, and even mucosal bleeding, which makes pathological diagnosis difficult. Although tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitors are efficacious for inflammatory bowel disease, they may contribute to malignancy in particularly susceptible individuals. This case demonstrates that when a patient is receiving long-term treatment with infliximab, it is important to monitor for the development of neoplasia. When neoplasia is found, surgical resection must be performed in time to prevent tumor progression and spread.