Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 16, 2021; 9(35): 11071-11077
Published online Dec 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i35.11071
Signet ring cell carcinoma hidden beneath large pedunculated colorectal polyp: A case report
Jia-Ning Yan, Yong-Fu Shao, Guo-Liang Ye, Yong Ding
Jia-Ning Yan, Yong-Fu Shao, Guo-Liang Ye, Yong Ding, Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Hospital of Medical School of Ningbo University, Ningbo 315020, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Ye GL and Ding Y were the operators of the patient’s colonoscopy; Yan JN interpreted the findings, reviewed the literature and contributed to manuscript drafting; Shao YF was responsible for the revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content; all authors issued final approval for the version to be submitted.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81702367; and the Science and Technology Development Funds of Ningbo of China (Normal Program), No. 2020F028.
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 conflicts 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: Yong Ding, PhD, Academic Fellow, Chief Doctor, Chief Physician, Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Hospital of Medical School of Ningbo University, No. 247 Renming Road, Ningbo 315020, Zhejiang Province, China. dingy135@126.com
Received: June 29, 2021
Peer-review started: June 29, 2021
First decision: July 26, 2021
Revised: July 28, 2021
Accepted: October 25, 2021
Article in press: October 25, 2021
Published online: December 16, 2021
Processing time: 163 Days and 15.9 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Large pedunculated colorectal polyps are not frequent among colonic polyps. We present a clinical case of a large pedunculated colorectal polyp with signet ring cell cancer infiltrating the submucosa and lymph node invasion in a patient who ultimately underwent additional surgery. Clinicians should attach importance to pedunculated colorectal polyps and choose the most appropriate therapy.

CASE SUMMARY

A 52-year-old female farmer underwent routine screening colonoscopy and denied constipation, diarrhea, hematochezia, or other gastrointestinal symptoms. Her past medical history and general biochemical examination results were unremarkable. During the colonoscopy, a 25-mm pedunculated polyp in the sigmoid colon was identified. The superficial epithelium was macroscopically congestive, rough, and granular, showing characteristic features of adenoma. We first ligated the root of the pedunculated polyp using nylon loops as well as a titanium clip. Histopathological examination revealed high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia of the tumor surface and a negative margin with signet ring cell adenocarcinoma infiltrating the submucosal layer. The deepest infiltration was approximately 0.9 cm from the tumor surface and 0.55 cm from the stratum basale. We performed radical resection of the left colon with lymph node dissection after two weeks. The lesion was completely resected, and pathological assessment revealed signet ring cell adenocarcinoma infiltrating the submucosal layer as well as lymph node invasion (stage PT1N1M0 and grade IIIA in pathological grading, NRAS-, BRAF V600E-, KRAS-).

CONCLUSION

This case highlights the importance of paying attention to the malignancy of large pedunculated polyps. Polyps or adenomas removed via endoscopy must be evaluated histologically. Even if adenomas may be fragile, endoscopy doctors should still remove polyps as completely as possible and choose perpendicular sections through the stalk and base to fix by formaldehyde solution.

Keywords: Signet ring cell carcinoma; Colorectal cancer; Pedunculated colorectal polyp; Surgery; Pathology; Case report

Core Tip: Pedunculated polyp itself is considered to have a low degree of malignancy. Herein, we present a rare case of a large pedunculated polyp that contains signet ring cells and infiltrates the submucosal layer. This case highlights the malignancy of pedunculated polyps, and even if adenomas may be fragile, endoscopy doctors should still remove polyps as completely as possible and choose perpendicular sections through the stalk and base for fixation.