Complete Remission of Unresectable Colon Cancer after Preoperative Chemotherapy Selected by Adenosine Triphosphate-Based Chemotherapy Response Assay

ABSTRACT

The adenosine triphosphate-based chemotherapy response assay (ATP-CRA) is a chemosensitivity test that offers the potential of selecting cancer treatments based on the responsiveness of individual tumors. We report a case of 47-yr-old male, presented with sigmoid colon cancer with multiple liver and peritoneal metastases, in which there was a complete response for the primary colon cancer after administration of preoperative chemotherapy selected by ATP-CRA. Oxaliplatin was the most sensitive drug based on the ATP-CRA where the specimen obtained by ultrasound- guided percutaneous liver biopsy was used. After twelve cycles of oxaliplatincapecitabine chemotherapy, abdominopelvic computed tomography revealed marked shrinkage of the liver metastases and positron emission tomography showed no uptake of (18)F-fluoro-deoxy-glucose (FDG) either in the liver or peritoneum except localized uptake in the sigmoid colon. The patient underwent an anterior resection and radiofrequency ablation of the liver metastases, which resulted in a macroscopic curative resection of the cancer cells. Histological examination revealed no residual cancer cells in the resected specimen of the sigmoid colon. This result suggested that preoperative chemotherapy chosen by ATP-CRA may be useful for treating advanced colon cancer with unresectable liver and peritoneal metastases.