Schwannoma of the colon and rectum: a systematic literature review.

Colorectal schwannoma is a very rare subtype of gastrointestinal schwannoma which occurs in the elderly, almost equally in men and women. Schwannoma should be included in the differential diagnosis of a submucosal lesion along with gastrointestinal stromal tumor, neuro-endocrine tumors, and leiomyoma-leiomyosarcoma. Definitive diagnosis is based on immunohistochemistry of the operative specimen. Rarely malignant, surgery is the mainstay of treatment.