Complete rectal prolapse presenting with colorectal cancer

OBJECTIVES: Rectal prolapse is defined as prolapse of all layers of rectal wallout of the anal sphincter. The aim was to (i) describe the extremely rare combination of a rectal prolapse with colon cancer in an older female patient, (ii) comment on management-specific aspects and (iii) derive some generalizing recommendations by means of a scientific case report and based on the case-specific experiences related to the clinical management and current references from the medical literature. CASE PRESENTATION: A 69-year old female patient with cancer of the sigmoid colon at a manifest rectal prolapse was diagnosed. Literature search (using the data bank of “PubMed”) resulted in only six patients (the majority of them were females) with the coincidence of rectal prolapse and rectal or colon cancer have been reported so far. CONCLUSIONS: A patient with a manifest rectal prolapse needs always to undergo colonoscopy and – in case of an ulcer – histological investigation of representative biopsies.