Long-term disease-free survival after isolated peritoneal metastasis from colonic cancer

We present the case of a 29-year-old female patient with an isolated peritoneal metastatic mass in the Douglas pouch, following ileocecal resection for a Dukes C2 colon cancer of the caecum. As initial treatment, four courses of continuous infusion with epiadriamycin were administered. The effect on the tumour size was marginal. Palliative radiotherapy (33 Gy) resulted in a reduction of the tumour size and subsequently a wide posterior exenteration could be performed. Five years after the initial diagnosis the patient is still in good health with no evidence of tumour recurrence. We sincerely believe that a maximum effort aiming for cure is warranted in selected patients with localized residual or metastatic peritoneal colon cancer, even if the initial prospects seem less favourable.