Amebicgranuloma and its relationship to cancer of the cecum

Colorectal cancer in adolescent Nigerians

Colorectal cancer has its peak incidence in the sixth and seventh decades of life in the industrialised countries. However, in developing countries the mean age is in the fifth decade. The diseases has been studied in the very young in Western Countries and its unique features well documented. So far this has not been done ine Nigeria. This paper presents illustrative cases of carcinoma of the colon and rectum in the very young in some Nigerian adolescents outlines their peculiar features and postulates on the role of certa in risk factors that can have aetiologic significance in colorectal cancer in Nigerians.

Amoebic granuloma--an unusual cause of caeco-colic intussusception

A case of amoeboma presenting as an intussusception, encountered for the first time in this institute, is reported. The diagnosis was only made postoperatively. The importance of awareness of such lesions in the tropics, in view of the efficiency of trial antiamoebic therapy, is discussed.

Microscopic intraepithelial neoplasia in large bowel mucosa

Early neoplastic changes within the nonpolypoid mucosa of the large bowel have been incidentally discovered in two individuals. One of these patients is a 31-year-old man without any known large bowel disease; the other is a 61-year-old woman with diverticulosis. Only small microscopic foci of several neoplastic crypts were observed in otherwise normal-appearing mucosa. This finding lends support to the concept that cells in the crypts, irrespective of their location either in the flat mucosa, polyps, diverticula, or elsewhere, are susceptible to neoplastic transformation.

Adenocarcinoma of the large bowel in Nigerians: a clinicopathologic study

This paper analyzes 320 cases of colorectal adenocarcinoma at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria over a period of 18 years. The sex ratio was 1.5:1 in favor of males; the average age when first seen was 44 years. The symptom complex was weight loss, bloody mucoid stool, altered bowel habit, and abdominal mass. Eighty per cent of rectal cases were in the lower third of the rectum. Most cases were very advanced at the time they were first seen. The association of infective granuloma, notably schistosomiasis and amebiasis, occurred in 11 cases. This probably had diagnostic significance but the etiologic significance is still conjectural. Eighty per cent of the tumors were well-differentiated adenocarcinoma, while 20 per cent were of other histologic variants. In spite of advanced disease, resection was possible in 66 per cent of colonic and 45 per cent of rectal cases. Although the number of cases of colorectal cancers treated yearly in the hospital has increased significantly in the last few years, it is suggested that the hitherto low treatment rate may be attributable to social unacceptability of a permanent colostomy.