Rectal Cancer Spread to the Optic Nerve and Caused Vision Loss
This colorectal cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Subtype
- Adenocarcinoma
- Biomarkers
- BRAF mutant; KRAS wild type
- Sex
- Male
- Spread to
- lungs|liver|left optic nerve
- Treatment
- chemotherapy
- Outcome
- In Memory
Treatment course, step by step
- He had received 18 cycles of chemotherapy before the optic-nerve metastasis was diagnosed.
What happened, in summary
A 49-year-old man with rectal adenocarcinoma had metastatic disease in the lungs and liver. The tumor was BRAF mutant and KRAS wild type, and he had already received 18 cycles of chemotherapy.
He was referred after 3 months of progressive vision loss in his left eye. By the time of assessment, he could no longer perceive light in that eye. Examination showed swelling of the left optic nerve with small flame-shaped hemorrhages, while the front of the eye and eye pressure were normal.
Orbital imaging and his known metastatic cancer strongly suggested tumor involvement. Histology confirmed rectal adenocarcinoma compressing and invading the optic nerve. The optic-nerve metastasis added to an already high burden of disease involving the lungs and liver. His condition carried a poor prognosis, and he died about 4 months after the visual symptoms brought him to specialist care.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by PMC / PubMed Central. Read the original in full
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Collections this story belongs to
- Metastatic Colorectal Cancer 17 stories
- Chemotherapy for Colorectal Cancer 403 stories
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer