Case Report - A case of Cronkhite-Canada syndrome associated with sigmoid colon cancer and early esophageal cancer

Sep 23, 2026

A 76-year-old man was diagnosed with Cronkhite-Canada syndrome (CCS) concurrently with sigmoid colon cancer and early esophageal cancer. After radical resection of the sigmoid colon cancer, he received hormone therapy for 12 months. Diarrhea, hair loss, and malnutrition improved, and gastric-duodenal and colonic polyp-like lesions decreased. The early esophageal cancer was followed for 3 years without active treatment and progressed. Simultaneous colon and early esophageal cancers in CCS are rare, and the report supports clinical diagnosis, treatment decisions, and postoperative follow-up management.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Case presentation and management

Diagnosis

Treatment and follow-up

TYPE Case Report PUBLISHED 29 April 2026 DOI 10.3389/fmed.2026.1778538 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Rahul Gupta, Synergy Institute of Medical Sciences, India REVIEWED BY Fufa Benti, Ambo University, Ethiopia Asma Sghaier, Centre Hôpital Universitaire Farhat Hached, Tunisia *CORRESPONDENCE Yun Bai [luckycloud@126.com](luckycloud@126.com) RECEIVED 31 December 2025 REVISED 06 April 2026 ACCEPTED 06 April 2026 PUBLISHED 29 April 2026 CITATION Wang Y, Sun W, Wang D, Cai C, Fan Q, Huang Z and Bai Y (2026) Case Report: A case of Cronkhite-Canada syndrome associated with sigmoid colon cancer and early esophageal cancer. Front. Med. 13:1778538 . doi: 10.3389/fmed.2026.1778538 COPYRIGHT © 2026 Wang, Sun, Wang, Cai, Fan, Huang and Bai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Case Report: A case of Cronkhite-Canada syndrome associated with sigmoid colon cancer and early esophageal cancer Yumeng Wang1,2 , Wenyan Sun2,3 , Dingxin Wang2 , Conghui Cai2 , Qicheng Fan2 , Zhihang Huang2 and Yun Bai2* 1 Graduate School, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou, China, 2 Department of Geriatric Gastroenterology, Hebei General Hospital, Shijiazhuang, China, 3 Graduate School, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, China This article reports a case of a patient with Cronkhite-Canada syndrome combined with sigmoid colon cancer and early esophageal cancer. In this case, CCS was diagnosed simultaneously with the discovery of sigmoid colon cancer and early esophageal cancer. After radical resection of sigmoid colon cancer, the patient received hormone therapy for 12 months. The symptoms such as diarrhea, hair loss, and malnutrition were relieved, and the gastric-duodenal and colonic polyp-like lesions were reduced. The early esophageal cancer was followed up for 3 years, but no active treatment was given for the early esophageal cancer. It is rare for both colon cancer and early esophageal cancer to occur simultaneously on the basis of CCS. To improve the understanding of the diagnosis and treatment of this disease and postoperative management, the case is reported as follows. KEYWORDS Cronkhite-Canada syndrome, early esophageal cancer, esophageal cancer (EC), sigmoid colon cancer, synchronous neoplasms Introduction Cronkhite-Canada syndrome (CCS) is a rare non-genetic disorder characterized by multiple polyps in the digestive tract and ectodermal changes (hair loss, nail and ﬁnger/foot nail malnutrition, skin pigmentation) . It is often accompanied by diarrhea, loss of appetite, and malnutrition. The incidence of this disease is approximately one in a million. The cause is still unclear and may be related to immune abnormalities, chronic inﬂammation, and gene mutations. Diagnosis mainly relies on typical clinical manifestations, diﬀuse polypoid lesions under endoscopy, and pathological examination. Currently, glucocorticoids are the main treatment method. Some patients may need to combine immunosuppressants or endoscopic and surgical treatments. CCS is closely related to colorectal cancer. A survey in Japan indicated that the prevalence of colorectal cancer in this population was as high as 10–20%, signiﬁcantly higher than that of the general population. However, CCS combined with esophageal cancer is extremely rare, and only a few reports have been published domestically and internationally. This article reports a case ofa 76-year-old male with CCS, in which both sigmoid colon cancer and early esophageal cancer were discovered atthe time Frontiers in Medicine 01 [frontiers

FAQs

What is Cronkhite-Canada syndrome (CCS) and what are its typical features?

CCS is a rare non-genetic disorder marked by multiple digestive-tract polyps and ectodermal changes such as hair loss, nail changes and malnutrition, skin pigmentation. It is commonly accompanied by diarrhea, appetite loss, and malnutrition.

How were the colon and esophageal cancers identified in this case?

During diagnostic evaluation, CCS was diagnosed at the same time as sigmoid colon cancer and early esophageal cancer. Esophageal and colon findings were documented on endoscopy.

What treatments were given and how did the patient respond?

After radical resection of the sigmoid colon cancer, the patient received hormone therapy for 12 months. Diarrhea, hair loss, and malnutrition improved, and gastric-duodenal and colonic polyp-like lesions reduced; however, the early esophageal cancer progressed during 3-year follow-up without active treatment.

Sep 23, 2026

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