Pancreatic metastasis from gastric carcinoma: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The pancreas is a rare but occasionally favored target for metastasis. Metastatic lesions in the pancreas have been described for various primary cancers, such as carcinomas of the lung, the breast, renal cell carcinoma and sarcomas....

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Schirmacher Peter, Fröhlich Boris E, Bergmann Frank, Wente Moritz N, Büchler Markus W, Friess Helmut
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2004-12-01
Series:World Journal of Surgical Oncology
Online Access:http://www.wjso.com/content/2/1/43
Description
Summary:<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The pancreas is a rare but occasionally favored target for metastasis. Metastatic lesions in the pancreas have been described for various primary cancers, such as carcinomas of the lung, the breast, renal cell carcinoma and sarcomas.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a 60-year old female with a mass in the pancreatic head four years after partial gastrectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma. The patient underwent a pancreatoduodenectomy. Pathological examination revealed metastases of the primary gastric carcinoma within the pancreatic head and in regional lymph nodes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Pancreatic tumors in patients with a history of non-pancreatic malignancy should always be considered to be a putative metastatic lesion at an unusual site. If the pancreas can be identified as the only site of spread, radical resection may prolong survival.</p>
ISSN:1477-7819