A retrospective study of histopathological findings in 894 cases of megacolon: what is the relationship between megacolon and colonic cancer?

Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo

Sérgio Britto Garcia¹  Alexandre Luis Aranha¹  Fabio Rogério Brosci Garcia¹  Filipe Volpe Basile¹  André Péra Marques Pinto¹  Enio Chaves De Oliveira²  Sérgio Zucoloto¹ 

[1] ,USP FMRP Departament of PathologyRibeirão Preto SP ,Brazil

关键词: Megacolon;    Megaesophagus;    Chagas disease;    Colon cancer;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0036-46652003000200007

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Patients with megaesophagus (ME) have increased prevalence of cancer of the esophagus. In contrast, a higher incidence of colorectal cancer is not observed in patients with megacolon (MC). MC is very common in some regions of Brazil, where it is mainly associated with Chagas disease. We reviewed the pathology records of surgical specimens of all patients submitted for surgical resection of MC in the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto (HC-FMRP), from the University of São Paulo. We found that 894 patients were operated from 1952 until 2001 for MC resection. Mucosal ulcers, hyperplasia and chronic inflammation were frequently found, while polyps were uncommon. No patients with MC presented any type of colonic neoplasm. This observation reinforces the hypothesis that MC has a negative association with cancer of the colon. This seems to contradict the traditional concept of carcinogenesis in the colon, since patients with MC presents important chronic constipation that is thought to cause an increase in risk for colon cancer. MC is also associated with other risk factors for cancer of colon, such as hyperplasia, mucosal ulcers and chronic inflammation. In ME these factors lead to a remarkable increase in cancer risk. The study of mucosal cell proliferation in MC may provide new insights and useful information about the role of constipation in colonic carcinogenesis.

【 授权许可】

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