Adenocarcinoma of the Appendix

Objective: To report the experience of our department on adenocarcinoma of the appendix through a series of six (6) cases. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study carried out from January 2010 to June 2015 collating all cases of adenocarcinoma of the appendix diagnosed at the department of visceral surgery B in Hassan II University Hospital in Fez. Results: Six cases of adenocarcinoma of the appendix were recorded during the determined period of study. The mean age was 54.67 ± 16.99 years with the extreme ages ranging from 28 to 78 years. There was a female predominance with a sex ratio of 2. All patients had no specific medical history. The revealing symptoms were the following: appendicitis syndrome (1 case), bowel obstruction (1 case), psoas abscess (1 case) and fortuitous discovery during laparotomy for another problem (3 cases). The following histological types found were: colloid adenocarcinoma (3 cases), mucinous adenocarcinoma (2 case), mucinous cystadenocarcinoma associated with a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma of the appendix (1 case). The surgical procedure consisted of a right hemicolectomy in 3 patients. Appendectomy followed by a right hemicolectomy and drainage of psoas abscess was performed in two patients. Palliative ileocecal resection and Bouilly-Volkmann ileocolostomy was performed in one patent who had carcinosis. All patients received adjuvant chemotherapy. The following occurred during follow-up: carcinosis (2 patients), a locoregional recurrence (2 patients). Two patients never returned for follow-up. Conclusion: Tumor of the appendix is a rare and exceptional pathology. These tumors are generally discovered fortuitously or during histology of appendectomy specimens. The treatment is usually surgical.