Carcinoma of colon complicating ulcerative colitis

Abstract

Summary and Conclusions There were ten additional patients in whom ulcerative colitis was complicated by cancer of the colon. A total of 33 patients with carcinoma of the colon among approximately 1,200 patients with ulcerative colitis have been identified. Seven of the ten are dead. The average age when cancer appeared was 44 years and malignancy was diagnosed after an average duration of ulcerative colitis of 17 years. The distribution of carcinoma was more diffuse throughout the colon in ulcerative colitis than that in the case ofordinary cancer of the large bowel. The neoplasia frequently was multifocal, presented variable histopathologic characteristics, and involved new sites in the colon after removal of the initial tumor. Involvement of lymph nodes was present in most cases, but it did not exclude the possibility of prolonged periods of survival.