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Case Reports
. 2022 Feb 27;23(5):2630.
doi: 10.3390/ijms23052630.

Mesothelioma and Colorectal Cancer: Report of Four Cases with Synchronous and Metachronous Presentation

Gabriella Serio  1 , Federica Pezzuto  2 , Francesco Fortarezza  3 , Andrea Marzullo  1 , Maria Celeste Delfino  4 , Antonio d'Amati  1 , Daniele Egidio Romano  1 , Sonia Maniglio  1 , Concetta Caporusso  1 , Teresa Lettini  1 , Domenica Cavone  4 , Luigi Vimercati  4
Affiliations
Case Reports

Mesothelioma and Colorectal Cancer: Report of Four Cases with Synchronous and Metachronous Presentation

Gabriella Serio et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

There is evidence that asbestos could play a role in the carcinogenesis of digestive cancers. The presence of asbestos fibres in histological samples from gastric, biliary, colon cancers has been reported, but the mechanism is still controversial. It has been hypothesised that asbestos reaches these sites, especially through contaminated water; however, some experimental studies have shown that the inhaled fibres are mobile, so they can migrate to many organs, directly or via blood and lymph flow. We report four unusual cases of colorectal cancers in patients with a long history of asbestos exposure who also developed synchronous or metachronous mesothelioma. We evaluated the roles of BRCA associated protein-1 (BAP1) and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A) in colon cancer and mesothelioma to support the hypothesis that BAP-1 and CDKN2A are tumour suppressor genes involved in disease progression, recurrence, or death in both digestive cancers and mesothelioma. Potentially, these markers may be used as predictors of worse prognosis, but we also stress the importance of clinical surveillance of exposed patients because asbestos could induce cancer in any organ.

Keywords: BAP1; CDKN2A; asbestos; colon cancer; mesothelioma; peritoneum; pleura.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Each box groups the main histological, immunohistochemical, and molecular images of both colon cancer and mesothelioma of each patient as follows: histological microphotographs of colon adenocarcinomas (a), haematoxylin and eosin stain (original magnification ×100) and mesotheliomas (b), haematoxylin and eosin stain, original magnification ×100 (cases 1, 2, and 3), ×200 (Case 4); immunohistochemistry for BAP1 in colon adenocarcinomas (c), original magnification ×100 (case 1 and 4), ×200 (cases 2 and 3); FISH analysis for CDKN2A (p16) in colon cancer samples (d); immunohistochemistry for BAP1 in mesotheliomas (e), original magnification ×100 (cases 1, 3, and 4), ×200 (case 2). The pathological, immunohistochemical, and molecular findings are described in Table 2.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cytoblock of the ascitic fluid of patient 1. An asbestos body is clearly visible (arrow) (Perls’ Prussian Blue stain, original magnification ×400).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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