Malliou P, Syrnioti A, Koletsa T, Karlafti E, Karakatsanis A, Raptou G, Apostolidis S, Michalopoulos A, Paramythiotis D. Mucinous adenocarcinoma arising from a tailgut cyst: A case report. World J Clin Oncol 2022; 13(10): 853-860 [PMID: 36337315 DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v13.i10.853]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Petra Malliou, MD, Doctor, The First Propaedeutic Surgery Department, AHEPA University General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Stilponos Kyriakidi 1, Thessaloniki 54636, Greece. malliou_petra@yahoo.gr
Research Domain of This Article
Surgery
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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/
World J Clin Oncol. Oct 24, 2022; 13(10): 853-860 Published online Oct 24, 2022. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v13.i10.853
Mucinous adenocarcinoma arising from a tailgut cyst: A case report
Petra Malliou, Antonia Syrnioti, Triantafyllia Koletsa, Eleni Karlafti, Anestis Karakatsanis, Georgia Raptou, Stylianos Apostolidis, Antonios Michalopoulos, Daniel Paramythiotis
Petra Malliou, Anestis Karakatsanis, Stylianos Apostolidis, Antonios Michalopoulos, Daniel Paramythiotis, The First Propaedeutic Surgery Department, AHEPA University General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54636, Greece
Antonia Syrnioti, Triantafyllia Koletsa, Georgia Raptou, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54636, Greece
Eleni Karlafti, Department of Emergency, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki 54636, Greece
Author contributions: Malliou P, Apostolidis S, Michalopoulos A, and Paramythiotis D were the patient’s surgeons, and reviewed the literature and contributed to manuscript drafting; Karlafti E reviewed the literature and contributed to manuscript drafting; Syrnioti A, Koletsa, and Raptou G performed the microscopic examination and contributed to manuscript drafting; all authors were responsible for the manuscript's revision for important intellectual content and issued final approval for this version to be submitted.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Petra Malliou, MD, Doctor, The First Propaedeutic Surgery Department, AHEPA University General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Stilponos Kyriakidi 1, Thessaloniki 54636, Greece. malliou_petra@yahoo.gr
Received: April 11, 2022 Peer-review started: April 11, 2022 First decision: May 31, 2022 Revised: June 12, 2022 Accepted: October 11, 2022 Article in press: October 11, 2022 Published online: October 24, 2022 Processing time: 191 Days and 17.9 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Retrorectal hamartomas or tailgut cysts (TCs) are rare. In most cases, they are asymptomatic and benign; however, rarely, they undergo malignant transformation, mainly in the form of adenocarcinoma.
CASE SUMMARY
A 55-year-old woman presented to our hospital with lower back pain. On magnetic resonance imaging, a large pelvic mass was found, which was located on the right of the ischiorectal fossa, extending to the minor pelvis. The patient underwent extensive surgical resection of the lesion through the right buttock. Histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of a retrorectal mucinous adenocarcinoma originating from a TC. Surgical resection of the tumour was complete, and the patient recovered without complications. The pilonidal sinus was then excised. One year later, semi-annual positron emission tomography-computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans did not reveal any evidence of local recurrence or metastatic disease.
CONCLUSION
Preoperative recognition, histological diagnosis, and treatment of TCs pose significant challenges. In addition, the possibility of developing invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma, although rare, should be considered.
Core Tip: Retrorectal hamartomas or tailgut cysts are extremely rare. In certain cases, they undergo malignant transformation, predominantly in the form of adenocarcinomas. Mucinous adenocarcinomas are rare forms of carcinoma arising from tailgut cysts, with only 18 cases reported in the literature from 1988 to 2021. Furthermore, to our knowledge, coexistence of a pilonidal tract and mucinous adenocarcinoma is extremely rare; this being the second reported case in the literature. We present the case of a 55-year-old woman with a large pelvic mass on the right of the ischiorectal fossa and a pilonidal cyst. Surgical resection of the tumour and cyst was completed and the patient recovered well.
