CASE REPORT article
Front. Med.
Sec. Gastroenterology
Case Report: A Rare Solitary Peroneus Longus Metastasis from Rectal Cancer Managed with Multimodal Therapy
Qiangming Liao
Junjun Yan
Jiujiang City Key Laboratory of Cell Therapy, Jujiang, China
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Abstract
Solitary skeletal muscle metastasis from rectal cancer is exceptionally rare and carries a generally poor prognosis, with no established treatment guidelines currently available. We present a case of a patient with advanced rectal cancer (T3cN2bM0) who refused recommended neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and underwent laparoscopic radical resection alone. Subsequently, the patient developed an isolated metastasis to the left peroneus longus muscle merely three months postoperatively. The metastasis presented as a painful mass, and 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/ computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) revealed its hypermetabolic nature, suggesting malignancy. This suspicion was confirmed histopathological, establishing the diagnosis of skeletal muscle metastasis from rectal adenocarcinoma. Following a combined treatment of surgical resection and systemic chemotherapy, the patient remarkably remained free of local recurrence or further metastasis throughout a 30-month follow-up period. This case underscores the importance of clinical alertness for rare skeletal muscle metastases and highlights that individualized treatment is essential for improving patient prognosis.
Summary
Keywords
case report, Disease-Free Survival, multimodal therapy, rectal cancer, Solitary peroneus longus metastasis
Received
12 November 2025
Accepted
16 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Liao and Yan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Junjun Yan
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