Repeated episodes of spontaneous regression/progression of cervical adenocarcinoma after adjuvant chemoradiation therapy: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Spontaneous regression of cancer is thought to be a rare event. Here, we report an extremely rare case of repeated episodes of spontaneous regression and progression of recurrent cervical adenocarcinoma. CASE PRESENTATION: We report here a case of a 56-year-old Japanese woman who was diagnosed with cervical adenocarcinoma. Her hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes were swollen 6 years after the initial diagnosis and subsequent treatment, and were found to be pathologically malignant by mediastinal biopsy. Then, without any treatment, the hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes spontaneously regressed with decreases in tumor size and serum tumor marker levels, as confirmed by a decrease in uptake of fluorodeoxyglucose during positron emission tomography-computed tomography. Subsequently, although there were repeated episodes of increase and decrease in her serum tumor marker levels and lymph node size, her activities of daily living were and are well preserved. CONCLUSIONS: While spontaneous regression of a malignant tumor is a rare event, our case is even rarer in that repeated episodes of spontaneous regression/progression of cervical adenocarcinoma occurred.