[An autopsy case of alpha-fetoprotein-producing carcinoma of the sigmoid colon resulting in sudden death].

ABSTRACT

A 63-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with complaints of abdominal distention and bilateral cervical masses. Her serum AFP was 11700 ng/dl. AFP was confirmed immunohistochemically by biopsy of a sigmoid colon tumor, yielding a diagnosis of AFP-producing carcinoma of the sigmoid colon, accompanied by multiple liver metastases, and systemic multiple lymph node metastases. Due to her poor general condition with mitral regurgitation, the patient began S-1 treatment. The patient's general condition rapidly worsened after 1 course of S-1 had no effect. She died on the 59th hospital day and a pathological autopsy was performed. We examined 67 cases of AFP-producing colon cancer in Japan, including our own, and report the findings with references.