Endoscopic mucosal resection of early stage colon neuroendocrine carcinoma

Early stage colorectal neuroendocrine carcinoma is rare. A small colon tumour was found in a 56-year-old man during diagnostic colonoscopy performed after a positive faecal occult blood test, and he was referred for treatment. A slightly reddish superficial elevated lesion with a shallow depression 10 mm in size was found in the transverse colon. Magnifying narrow-band imaging revealed disrupted irregular microvessels and the absence of a surface pattern in the depressed area. En bloc endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) of the tumour was undertaken. The tumour was positive for chromogranin A and synaptophysin, and had a mitotic rate of >20/10 high-power fields and a Ki-67 proliferative index of >50%; it was diagnosed as a neuroendocrine carcinoma. The tumour minimally invaded the submucosa (300 μm) without lymphovascular involvement. The patient was followed up carefully, and at 1 year after EMR, no recurrence was found using colonoscopy and CT scans.