Radical treatment of Sister Mary-Joseph nodule: case report and literature review

Abstract

Sister Mary-Joseph nodule (NSMJ) is a cutaneous metastasis of the umbilicus, rare and accounts for 2-3% of the patients with advanced stages of colorectal adenocarcinoma. Here we report the observation of a 48-year-old Moroccan man, referred to our hospital to manage a painful ulcero-budding nodule of the umbilicus; computed tomography revealed that the processes infiltrated the urachus and the bladder. Laboratory parameters were normal and radical surgery was performed to remove the tumor and embryological remnant of the umbilicus. The histological assessment confirmed the sigmoidal origin of the umbilical nodule. This kind of disease always poses a problem of treatment. It was considered for a long time as an outdated stage of tumor disease that deserves just palliative treatment. Several cases published in the international literature with radical treatment had good survival and evolution, which gives hope to patients with this disease.