Disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow with disseminated intravascular coagulation as the first symptom of recurrent rectal cancer successfully treated with chemotherapy: A case report and review of the literature

Disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow (DCBM) is a condition in which bone marrow (BM) metastases diffusely invade the BM, and is frequently accompanied by disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). While prostate, lung, breast and stomach malignancies, in addition to neuroblastoma, are the most prevalent non-hematological malignancies to metastasize frequently to the BM, colorectal cancer is a malignancy that rarely metastasizes to the BM. The present case describes a 65-year-old male patient treated by resection and one course adjuvant chemotherapy for stage IIIC rectal cancer who presented with nasal bleeding at 8 months post-surgery. A blood test exhibited DIC. A BM biopsy was performed and the definitive diagnosis was DCBM with DIC. Promptly, anti-DIC treatment and chemotherapy with a modified FOLFOX6 (folinic acid, leucovorin (LV), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and oxaplatin) regimen was started. Following 1 cycle of chemotherapy, DIC was improved and subsequent to 2 cycles of modified FOLFOX6 the patient was discharged. The patient was alive 263 days subsequent to the diagnosis of DIC, but succumbed to carcinomatous meningitis as a result of disease progression. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of DCBM with DIC of curatively resected rectal cancer as the first presentation of relapse that was successfully treated with aggressive therapy, including chemotherapy.