A Case of Colon Cancer in Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome

ABSTRACT

Peutz-Jeghers syndrome is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by hamartomatous polyps in the gastrointestinal tract and by mucocutaneous melanin pigmentations. The relationship between gastrointestinal polyps and the syndrome has been discussed for many years, and many reports have recently suggested an association between the development of gastrointestinal carcinomas and the presence of the syndrome. The reasons for such an association are unknown; some possible reasons are 1) the transformations of some hamartomas into adenomatous polyps and cancer, 2) malignant transformation of adenomatous polyps, or 3) de novo occurrence of malignant tumors. We here present our clinical experience with a 53-year-old male patient who had Peutz-Jeghers syndrome and an adenocarcinoma at the hepatic flexure of the colon.