A Case Of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Misdiagnosed As Lung Metastases After Curative Resection Of Early Colon Cancer

Early colon cancer can be cured by endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR). However, the possibility of complete resection depends on the depth of cancer invasion. Ten percent of cancers invading the submucosal layer are associated with local lymph node metastasis. Therefore, colon cancers confirmed to invade the submucosal layer after EMR require surgical resection. We treated a woman with adenocarcinoma at the hepatic flexure with submucosal invasion diagnosed after piecemeal EMR. Subsequent right hemicolectomy with lymph node dissection revealed no residual cancer. However, after 21 months, multiple pulmonary nodules were incorrectly diagnosed as pulmonary metastases, based on the radiological findings. The final diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis was made after lung metastasectomy.