Colonic lipomas mimicking colon cancer

Abstract

Objective: Colonic lipomas are uncommon tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. Most of these tumors are asymptomatic and usually detected incidentally during colonoscopy or laparotomy and do not require treatment. Large lipomas are usually symptomatic and may mimic clinic manifestations of colonic carcinoma. Here we studied seven cases of submucosal and intramuscular colonic lipomas to evaluate the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of this disease.Material and Method: Seven patients who were diagnosed with colonic lipoma between 1999 and 2006 were evaluated as regards age, gender, size of tumor, anatomic site, symptoms, location and treatment modality.Result: The mean age was 57.8 +/- 14.7 years. Five patients were male and two were female. The size of the lipomas ranged from 1 to 5.5 cm and all were symptomatic except one patient. Five of the gastrointestinal lipomas were located submucosally and 2 intramurally. Five lipomas arose from the ascending colon, 1 from the hepatic flexure and 1 from the splenic flexure. Four large GI lipomas were removed by subtotal resection and one case underwent hemicolectomy while two pedunculated lipomas were resected by polypectomy. No recurrence was found after at least one year follow-up with endoscopic examination.Conclusion: Colonic lipomas may mimic malignancy with their clinical manifestations. Appropriate radiological and colonoscopic evaluation is essential to avoid unnecessary wide resections.