Korean J Med.
2011 Jun;80(Suppl 2):S96-S100.
Nasopharyngeal Metastasis from Colon Cancer
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Internal Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. jkkim@catholic.ac.kr
- 2Department of Hospital Pathology, The Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Abstract
- Metastatic adenocarcinoma from the gastrointestinal tract to the nasopharynx is rare. The histological morphology of this lesion is indistinguishable from the colonic variant of primary head and neck adenocarcinoma or intestinal-type adenocarcinoma (ITAC) of the nasal cavity. This is a report of metastatic adenocarcinoma of colorectal origin to the nasopharynx in a 58-year-old man who was previously treated for adenocarcinoma of the sigmoid colon. A histopathological study of the specimen from the nasopharynx demonstrated a tumor that was identical to the patient's previous primary tumor from the colon. There was no tumor mass in the nasal cavity or paranasal sinuses. The nasopharyngeal tissue expressed cytokeratin 20 and CDX-2, but not cytokeratin 7. The patient received palliative radiation after the diagnosis. Distinguishing metastatic adenocarcinoma from the gastrointestinal tract from ITAC can be difficult. The clinical manifestation is important in differentiating these conditions. It is important to recognize these as metastatic lesions because treatment is primarily palliative.
