Top

International Journal of Colorectal Disease

Published in:

01-07-2007 | Review

Spontaneous regression of colorectal cancer: a review of cases from 1900 to 2005

Author: Ayman S. Abdelrazeq

Published in: International Journal of Colorectal Disease | Issue 7/2007

Abstract

Introduction

Spontaneous regression of cancer is an exceptional but well-documented biological event. Further understanding of this phenomenon and harnessing of the mechanisms involved will have significant preventative and therapeutic implications.

Discussion

In this review, the literature of spontaneous regression of colon or rectal cancer is reviewed from 1965 to 2005 to update reviews by Everson et al., Boyd and Challis et al. By adding to these, the author reports the entire series of colorectal cancer, which underwent documented spontaneous regression from 1900 to 2005. The demographic and pathologic characteristics, the details of regression and the outcome of reported cases are presented and discussed. Special emphasis is placed on identifying possible causes hypothesized by authors for occurrence of regression. Possible mechanisms operating to affect these regressions are also discussed.

Kaiser HE, Bodey B Jr, Siegel SE, Groger AM, Bodey B (2000) Spontaneous neoplastic regression: the significance of apoptosis. In Vivo 14:773–788PubMed

Everson TC, Cole WH (1966) Spontaneous regression of cancer. WB Saunders, Philadelphia, PA

Boyd W (1966) The spontaneous regression of cancer. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL

Cole WH (1974) Spontaneous regression of cancer: the metabolic triumph of the host? Ann N Y Acad Sci 230:111–141PubMed

Challis GB, Stam HJ (1990) The spontaneous regression of cancer. A review of cases from 1900 to 1987. Acta Oncol 29:545–550PubMed

O’Regan B, Hirschberg C (1993) Spontaneous remission. An annotated bibliography. Institute of Noetic Sciences, Sausalito, CA

Abdelrazeq AS, Lund JN, Leveson SH (2005) Spontaneous regression of peritoneal carcinomatosis from a rectal cancer. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 17:1421–1423PubMed

Fergeson JO, Black BM (1954) Disappearance, probably spontaneous of locally inoperable carcinoma of the descending colon: report of case. Mayo Clin Proc 29:407–410PubMed

Thomford NR, Black BM (1961) Presumably spontaneous cure of inoperable carcinoma of the colon; addendum to a report of a case in 1954. Mayo Clin Proc 36:504–506PubMed

10.

Brunschwig A (1963) Spontaneous regression of cancer. Surgery 53:423–431PubMed

11.

Mayo CW (1963) Tumor clinic conference. Cancer Bull 15:78–79

12.

Brown CH (1961) Regression of metastatic lesions: report of two cases. American Practice (Clinical Pediatrics) 12:655–656

13.

Fullerton JM, Hill RD (1963) Spontaneous regression of cancer. Br Med J 21:1589–1590

14.

Rankin GB, Brown CH, Crile G Jr (1965) Spontaneous regression of hepatic metastases from a carcinoma of the colon: 10-year follow up of a patient with familial polyposis. Ann Surg 162:156–159PubMed

15.

Margolis J, West D (1967) Spontaneous regression of malignant disease: report of three cases. J Am Geriatr Soc 15:251–253PubMed

16.

Synder W, Clark R, Rubini J (1968) Long-term survival of mother and son with widespread metastatic adenocarcinoma of colon. Cancer 21:129–133

17.

Weinstock C (1977) Notes on “spontaneous” regression of cancer. J Am Soc Psychosom Dent Med 24:106–110PubMed

18.

Meares A (1979) Regression of cancer of the rectum after intensive meditation. Med J Aust 2:539–540PubMed

19.

Glasser M, Rosenberg MZ, Gaito R (1979) Widespread adenocarcinoma of the colon with survival of 28 years. JAMA 241:2542–2543PubMed

20.

Beechey RT, Edwards BE, Kellands CH (1986) Adenocarcinoma of the colon: an unusual case. Med J Aust 144:211–213PubMed

21.

Francis A, Temple JG, Hallissey MT (1997) Spontaneous resolution of histologically proven liver metastases from colorectal cancer. Br J Surg 84:818PubMed

22.

Ikuta S, Miki C, Ookura E, Tonouchi H, Kusunoki M (2002) Spontaneous regression of a metastatic liver tumor: report of a case. Surg Today 32:844–848PubMed

23.

Van Langenberg A, Ong GB (1972) Carcinoma of large bowel in the young. Br Med J 3:374–376PubMedCrossRef

24.

Cohen AM, Minsky BD, Schilsky RL (1997) Cancer of the colon. In: Devita V Jr, Hellman S, Rosenberg SA (eds) Cancer principles and practice of oncology, 5th edn. Lippincott-Raven, New York, pp 1144–1145

25.

Davis SD, Koizumi J, Pitts WR (1989) Spontaneous regression of pulmonary metastases from renal cell carcinoma. Urology 13:141–144

26.

Ogihara Y, Takeda K, Yanagawa T, Hirasawa Y (1994) Spontaneous regression of lung metastases from osteosarcoma. Cancer 74:2798–2803PubMed

27.

Braren V, Taylor JN, Pace W (1974) Regression of metastatic renal carcinoma following nephrectomy. Urology 3:777–778PubMed

28.

Dao TL (1962) Regression of pulmonary metastases of a breast cancer. Report of a case of spontaneous and temporary regression after radical mastectomy. Arch Surg 84:574–577PubMed

29.

Gohji K, Kizaki T, Fujii A (1995) Spontaneous regression of pulmonary metastasis from nonfunctioning adrenocortical carcinoma after removal of the primary lesion: a case report. J Urol 154:1854–1855PubMed

30.

MacManus MP, Harte RJ, Stranex S (1994) Spontaneous regression of metastatic renal cell carcinoma following palliative irradiation of the primary tumor. Ir J Med Sci 163:461–463PubMed

31.

Punt CJ (2005) Chemotherapy of patients with colorectal carcinoma. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 149:1441–1447PubMed

32.

Jemal A, Tiwari RC, Murray T et al (2004) Cancer statistics, 2004. CA Cancer J Clin 54:8–29PubMed

33.

Forber J (1931) Incurable cancer: An investigation of hospital patients in eastern London. Rep Public Health Med Subj 66:1–59

34.

Harnett WL (1953) The relation between delay in treatment of cancer and survival rate. Br J Cancer 7:19–36PubMed

35.

Daland EM, Welch CE, Nathanson I (1936) One hundred untreated cancers of the rectum. N Engl J Med 214:451–458CrossRef

36.

Jerry LM, Challis EB (1984) Oncology. In: Rakel RE (ed) Textbook of family practice, 3rd edn. Saunders, Philadelphia, PA, pp 1061–1081

37.

Franklin CI (1982) Spontaneous regression in cancer. In: Stoll BA (ed) Prolonged arrest of cancer. Wiley, Toronto, pp 103–116

38.

Salloum E, Cooper DL, Howe G et al (1996) Spontaneous regression of lymphoproliferative disorders in patients treated with methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. J Clin Oncol 14:1943–1949PubMed

39.

Penn I (1990) Cancers complicating organ transplantation. N Engl J Med 323:1767–1769PubMedCrossRef

40.

Viraben R, Brousse P, Lamant L (1996) Reversible cutaneous lymphoma occurring during methotrexate therapy. Br J Dermatol 130:116–118

41.

Malkovska V, Sondel PM, Malkovsky M (1989) Tumor immunotherapy. Curr Opin Immunol 1:883–890PubMed

42.

Nathanson L (1976) Spontaneous regression of malignant melanoma: a review of the literature on incidence, clinical features and possible mechanisms. Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 44:67–76PubMed

43.

Stoll BA (1992) Spontaneous regression of cancer: new insights. Biotherapy 4:23–30PubMed

44.

Dalerba P, Maccalli C, Casati C, Castelli C, Parmiani G (2003) Immunology and immunotherapy of colorectal cancer. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol 46:33–57PubMed

45.

Serpick AA (1976) Spontaneous regression of colon carcinoma. Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 44:21PubMed

46.

Papac RJ (1996) Spontaneous regression of cancer. Cancer Treat Rev 22:395–423PubMed

47.

Balch CM, Riley LB, Bae YJ et al (1990) Patterns of human tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in 120 human cancers. Arch Surg 125:200–205PubMed

48.

Rosenberg SA (1992) Karnofsky memorial lecture. The immunotherapy and gene therapy of cancer. J Clin Oncol 10:180–199PubMed

49.

Hawkins MJ, Atkins MB, Dutcher JP et al (1994) A phase II clinical trial of interleukin-2 and lymphokine-activated killer cells in advanced colorectal carcinoma. J Immunother 15:74–78

50.

Greco FA, Figlin R, York M et al (1996) Phase III randomized study to compare interferon alfa-2a in combination with fluorouracil versus fluorouracil alone in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. J Clin Oncol 14:2674–2681PubMed

51.

Wolmark N, Bryant J, Smith R et al (1998) Adjuvant 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin with or without interferon alfa-2a in colon carcinoma: National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project protocol C-05. J Natl Cancer Inst 90:1810–1816PubMed

52.

Jass JR (1986) Lymphocytic infiltration and survival in rectal cancer. J Clin Pathol 36:585–589

53.

Ropponen KM, Eskelinen MJ, Lipponen PK, Alhava E, Kosma VM (1997) Prognostic value of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in colorectal cancer. J Pathol 182:318–324PubMed

54.

Naito Y, Saito K, Shiiba K et al (1998) CD8+ T cells infiltrated within cancer cell nests as a prognostic factor in human colorectal cancer. Cancer Res 58:3491–3494PubMed

55.

Michael-Robinson JM, Biemer-Huttmann A, Purdie DM et al (2001) Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and apoptosis are independent features in colorectal cancer stratified according to microsatellite instability status. Gut 48:360–366PubMed

56.

Miyagi Y, Imai N, Sasatomi T et al (2001) Induction of cellular immune responses to tumor cells and peptides in colorectal cancer patients by vaccination with SART3 peptides. Clin Cancer Res 7:3950–3962PubMed

57.

Hanna MG Jr, Hoover HC Jr, Vemorken JB, Harris JE, Pinedo HM (2001) Adjuvant active specific immunotherapy of stage II and III colon cancer with an autologous tumor cell vaccine: first randomized phase III trials show promise. Vaccine 19:2576–2582PubMed

58.

Alexander P (1976) Metastatic spread and “escape” from the immune defenses of the host. Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 44:125–129PubMed

59.

Restifo NP, Kawakami Y, Marincola F et al (1993) Molecular mechanisms used by tumors to escape immune recognition: immunogenetherapy and the cell biology of major histocompatibility complex class I. J Immunother 14:182–190

60.

Garrido F, Algarra I (2001) MHC antigens and tumor escape from immune surveillance. Adv Cancer Res 83:117–158PubMedCrossRef

61.

Durrant LG, Ballantyne KC, Armitage NC et al (1987) Quantitation of MHC antigen expression on colorectal tumors and its association with tumor progression. Br J Cancer 56:425–432PubMed

62.

Cabrera T, Collado A, Fernandez MA et al (1998) High frequency of altered HLA class I phenotypes in invasive colorectal carcinomas. Tissue Antigens 52:114–123PubMed

63.

Sindelar WF (1976) Regression of cancer following surgery. Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 44:81–84PubMed

64.

Parbhoo S (1982) Necrosis in cancer tissue. In: Stoll BA (ed) Prolonged arrest of cancer. Wiley, Chichester, pp 243–280

65.

Weiss L, Holmes J (1980) Some effects of tumor necrosis on components of active cell movement. In: Strauli P (ed) Proteinases and tumor invasion. Raven, New York

66.

Lefrere F, Hermine O, Radford-Weiss I et al (1994) A spontaneous remission of lymphoid blast crisis in chronic myelogenous leukaemia following blood transfusion and infection. Br J Haematol 88:621–622PubMed

67.

Tucker J, Murphy MF, Gregory WM et al (1989) Apparent removal of graft-versus-leukaemia effect by the use of leucocyte-poor blood components in patients with acute myeloblastic leukaemia. Br J Haematol 73:572–574PubMed

68.

Nauts HC, Swift WE, Coley BL (1946) The treatment of malignant tumors by bacterial toxins, as developed by the late William B. Coley, M.D., reviewed in the light of modern research. Cancer Res 6:205–216

69.

Balkwill FR, Naylor MS, Malik S (1990) Tumour necrosis factor as an anticancer agent. Eur J Cancer 26:641–644PubMedCrossRef

70.

Stephenson HE Jr, Delmez JA, Renden DI et al (1971) Host immunity and spontaneous regression of cancer evaluated by computerized data reduction study. Surg Gynecol Obstet 133:649–655PubMed

71.

Takita H (1970) Effect of postoperative empyema on survival of patients with bronchogenic carcinoma. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 59:642–668PubMed

72.

Alexander P (1976) Some immunologically based reactions that can cause the regression of large tumour mass. Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 44:105–108PubMed

73.

Folkman J (1990) What is the evidence that tumors are angiogenesis dependent? J Natl Cancer Inst 82:4–6PubMed

74.

Broder S, Karp JE (1995) Progress against cancer. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 121:633–647PubMed

75.

Jimemez C, Ribera JM, Abad E et al (1993) Increased serum tumour necrosis factor during transient remission in acute leukaemia. Lancet 341:1600PubMed

76.

Greenwald P (1997) Dietary carcinogens. In: Devita VT Jr, Hellman S, Rosenberg SA (eds) Cancer principles and practice of oncology. Lippincott-Raven, Philadelphia, pp 579–584

77.

Modan B (1977) Dietary role in cancer etiology. Cancer 40:1887–1891PubMed

78.

Willett NC, MacMahon B (1984) Diet and cancer: an overview (second of two parts). N Engl J Med 310:697–703PubMedCrossRef

79.

Harford FJ, Fazio VW, Epstein LM, Hewitt CB (1984) Rectosigmoid carcinoma occurring after ureterosigmoidostomy. Dis Colon Rectum 27:321–324PubMed

80.

Hussell T, Isaacson PG, Crabtree JE, Spencer J (1993) The response of cells from low-grade B-cell gastric lymphomas of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue to Helicobacter pylori. Lancet 342:571–574PubMed

81.

Cole WH (1981) Efforts to explain spontaneous regression of cancer. J Surg Oncol 17:201–209PubMed

82.

Vujanovic NL (2001) Role of TNF family ligands in antitumour activity of natural killer cells. Int Rev Immunol 20:415–437PubMed

83.

O’Reilly MS, Holmgren L, Chen C, Folkman J (1996) Angiostatin induced and sustained dormancy of human primary tumors in mice. Nat Med 2:689–692PubMed

84.

Markowitz S, Wang J, Myeroff L et al (1995) Inactivation of the type II TGF-beta receptor in colon cancer cells with microsatellite instability. Science 268:1336–1338PubMed

85.

Papac RJ (1998) Spontaneous regression of cancer: possible mechanisms. In Vivo 12:571–578PubMed

86.

Tocci G, Conte A, Guarascio P, Visco G (1990) Spontaneous remission of hepatocellular carcinoma after massive gastrointestinal haemorrhage. BMJ 300:641–642PubMedCrossRef

87.

Bos SD, Mensink HJ (1996) Spontaneous caval tumour thrombus necrosis and regression of pulmonary lesions in renal cell cancer. Scand J Urol Nephrol 30:489–492PubMed

88.

Markovic S, Ferlan-Marolt V, Hlebanja Z (1995) Spontaneous regression of hepatacellular carcinoma. Am J Gastroenterol 91:392–393

89.

Wyllie AH (1997) Apoptosis: an overview. Br Med Bull 53:451–465PubMed

90.

Peter ME, Heufelder AE, Hengartner MO (1997) Advances in apoptosis research. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94:12736–12737PubMed

91.

Kaufmann Y, Many A, Rechavi G et al (1995) Brief report: lymphoma with recurrent cycles of spontaneous remission and relapse—possible role of apoptosis. N Engl J Med 332:507–510PubMed

92.

Hoehner JC, Gestblom C, Olsen L, Pahlman S (1997) Spatial association of apoptosis-related gene expression and cellular death in clinical neuroblastoma. Br J Cancer 75:1185–1194PubMed

93.

Pansera F (1992) Regression in renal carcinoma as re-expression of cell death in kidney development. Perspect Biol Med 35:416–421PubMed

94.

Teraishi F, Wu S, Zhang L et al (2005) Identification of a novel synthetic thiazolidin compound capable of inducing c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase-dependent apoptosis in human colon cancer cells. Cancer Res 65:6380–6387PubMed

95.

Miquel C, Borrini F, Grandjouan S et al (2005) Role of bax mutations in apoptosis in colorectal cancers with microsatellite instability. Am J Clin Pathol 123:562–570PubMed

96.

Daouphars M, Koufany M, Benani A et al (2005) Uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation and Smac/DIABLO release are not sufficient to account for induction of apoptosis by sulindac sulfide in human colorectal cancer cells. Int J Oncol 26:1069–1077PubMed

97.

Din FV, Stark LA, Dunlop MG (2005) Aspirin-induced nuclear translocation of NFkappaB and apoptosis in colorectal cancer is independent of p53 status and DNA mismatch repair proficiency. Br J Cancer 92:1137–1143PubMed

98.

Konishi T, Sasaki S, Watanabe T, Kitayama J, Nagawa H (2005) Over expression of hRFI (human ring finger homologous to inhibitor of apoptosis protein type) inhibits death receptor-mediated apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 4:743–750PubMed

99.

Schmutte C, Yang AS, Nguyen TT, Beart RW, Jones PA (1996) Mechanisms for the involvement of DNA methylation in colon carcinogenesis. Cancer Res 56:2375–2381PubMed

100.

Feinberg AP, Gehrke CW, Kuo KC, Ehrlich M (1988) Reduced genomic 5-methylcytosine content in human colonic neoplasia. Cancer Res 48:1159–1161PubMed

101.

Schmid M, Haaf T, Grunert D (1984) 5-Azacytidine-induced undercondensations in human chromosomes. Hum Genet 67:257–263PubMed

102.

Herman JG, Merlo A, Mao L et al (1995) Inactivation of the CDKN2/p16/MTS1 gene is frequently associated with aberrant DNA methylation in all common human cancers. Cancer Res 55:4525–4530PubMed

103.

Greger V, Passarge E, Hopping W, Messmer E, Horsthemke B (1989) Epigenetic changes may contribute to the formation and spontaneous regression of retinoblastoma. Hum Genet 83:155–158PubMed

104.

Kim NW (1997) Clinical implications of telomerase in cancer. Eur J Cancer 33:781–786PubMed

105.

Hiyama E, Hiyama K, Yokoyama K et al (1995) Correlating telomerase activity levels with human neuroblastoma outcomes. Nat Med 1:249–255PubMed

106.

Meares A (1983) Psychological mechanisms in the regression of cancer. Med J Aust 1:583–584PubMed

107.

Weinstock C (1984). Further evidence on psychobiological aspects of cancer. Int J Psychosom 31:20–22PubMed

108.

Mahrer AR (1980) The treatment of cancer through experiential psychotherapy. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice 17:335–342

109.

Levy S, Herberman R, Lippman M, d’Angelo T (1987) Correlation of stress factors with sustained depression of natural killer cell activity and predicted prognosis in patients with breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 5:348–353PubMed

110.

Ader R, Cohen N (1985) CNS-immune system instruction: conditioning phenomenon. Behav Brain Sci 8:379–394CrossRef

111.

Simonton OC, Matthews-Simonton S, Sparks TF (1980) Psychological intervention in the treatment of cancer. Psychosomatics 21:226–227, 231–233PubMed

112.

Osler W (1901) The medical aspect of carcinoma of the breast, with a note on the spontaneous disappearance of secondary growths. Am Med 13:63–66

Title: Spontaneous regression of colorectal cancer: a review of cases from 1900 to 2005
Author: Ayman S. Abdelrazeq
Publication date: 01-07-2007
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: International Journal of Colorectal Disease / Issue 7/2007
Print ISSN: 0179-1958
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1262
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00384-006-0245-z

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Spontaneous regression of colorectal cancer: a review of cases from 1900 to 2005

Abstract

Introduction

Discussion

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Introduction

Discussion

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 7/2007

Assessment of microsatellite instability in colorectal carcinoma at an Indian center

Tissue-type plasminogen activator prevents formation of intra-abdominal abscesses after surgical treatment of secondary peritonitis in a rat model

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) reduces crypt cell proliferation and increases apoptosis in normal colonic mucosa in subjects with a history of colorectal adenomas

Intra-abdominal erosion of artificial bowel sphincter reservoir

A cost analysis of functional bowel disorders in Iran

Treatment of anastomotic-vaginal fistula complicating colorectal resection using Permacol interposition in lieu of omentum