Schwannoma of the Ascending Colon in a 22-Year-Old Male: A Case Report

Schwannoma of the ascending colon is an extremely rare neoplasm that is often discovered incidentally in the asymptomatic older population on surveillance colonoscopy. We present the case of a symptomatic 22-year-old male presenting with one month of discomfort in the right lower abdominal quadrant, abdominal bloating, and hematochezia. A sessile polyp measuring 0.5 cm was identified in the ascending colon on the colonoscopy. The polyp was completely resected using cold snare polypectomy. Histological examination of the resected polyp with hematoxylin-eosin staining revealed small nodules of bland spindle cells with focal nuclear condensation. The lesional cells tested positive for S-100 and SOX-10 on immunohistochemical analysis, establishing the diagnosis of benign schwannoma. Since this lesion was submucosal, its diagnosis required an endoscopic biopsy that could only be performed on the mucosa. It was difficult to distinguish it from other mesenchymal tumors (gastrointestinal stromal tumor or leiomyoma), and this makes the differential diagnosis exceedingly challenging. If the immunohistochemistry is positive for S-100 and negative for C-KIT, CD-34, actin, and desmin, it aids in diagnosis. These tumors have non-specific radiological features and are asymptomatic.