Concurrent small bowel adenocarcinoma and carcinoid tumor in Crohn's disease - Case report and literature review

Adenocarcinomas of the large and small bowel, as well as intestinal carcinoid tumors have been reported at increased rates in Crohn's disease. We herein report a rare case of concurrent adenocarcinoma and carcinoid tumor of the small bowel presenting as intestinal obstruction and found incidentally at laparotomy in a 55. year old male with longstanding ileal Crohn's disease. We performed a Medline Pubmed search for cases of synchronous or composite adenocarcinoma and carcinoid tumor in the setting of Crohn's disease and identified four similar cases. Concurrent adenocarcinoma and carcinoid tumor occurred both in newly diagnosed and longstanding Crohn's disease, most commonly involved the terminal ileum and presented with symptoms mimicking Crohn's disease. Diagnosis was made incidentally at laparotomy in all cases. Lymph node involvement was variable. Clinicians should be aware of this rare entity for expeditious surgical intervention.