Exceptional Long-Term Survival of a Patient With Hepatoid Adenocarcinoma of the Colon and the Treatment Strategy: A Case Report

TL;DR

A rare colon cancer case with liver metastasis was successfully treated with a combination of surgery and chemotherapy, leading to long-term survival.

Contribution

This case report presents a successful treatment strategy for hepatoid adenocarcinoma with long-term survival.

Findings

Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy followed by surgery and maintenance therapy led to no relapse for 2.5 years.

The case suggests that aggressive treatment strategies can result in good outcomes for hepatoid adenocarcinoma.

Combination chemotherapy with FOLFOX and capecitabine was effective in preventing recurrence.

Abstract

Hepatoid adenocarcinoma (HAC) of the colon is a rare type of tumor with hepatocellular differentiation. HAC often produces alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and metastasizes to lymph nodes and the liver. HAC is usually aggressive with a poor prognosis and has a propensity for intravascular growth and frequent distant metastasis. Because the biology of HAC is not fully understood, there are very limited therapeutic options known to reduce recurrence and improve survival. In addition, because HAC is so rare, it is difficult to acquire data from large randomized clinical trials to guide practice; therefore, case reports can provide valuable information for the treatment of HAC. In this report, we present a case of a 30-year-old male patient with HAC with high AFP levels and liver metastases. The patient underwent hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) with doxorubicin/oxaliplatin to treat the liver metastasis, and three weeks later, he received radical sigmoid and rectal resection, left liver resection, and ileostomy. Then, the patient received eight cycles of chemotherapy with epirubicin plus folinic acid, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) every three weeks, followed by maintained therapy with capecitabine for 2.5 years without relapse. This case report indicates that, although HAC is usually an aggressive disease with frequent distant metastasis, patients with HAC may still have a good prognosis if treated with appropriate strategy.

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