-Case Reports-

Surgical Treatment for Isolated Multiple Pancreatic Metastases from Renal Cell Carcinoma: Report of a Case

Takayuki Aimoto, Eiji Uchida, Kazuya Yamahatsu, Hiroshi Yoshida, Makoto Hiroi and Takashi Tajiri

Surgery for Organ Function and Biological Regulation, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School

A 70-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for evaluation of multiple pancreatic tumors. Twelve years earlier he had undergone left radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Computed tomography revealed two well-defined mass lesions in the head and tail of the pancreas, with strong contrast enhancement in the arterial phase. Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography detected an elevated uptake within the lesions but no extrapancreatic uptake. The preoperative diagnosis was isolated multifocal metastatic pancreatic tumors from RCC. The patient underwent total pancreatectomy with splenectomy. Both of the tumors were well-demarcated, gray-white, and firm on gross observation. Microscopic examination, meanwhile, revealed solid tumors consisting of clear oval cells with severe nuclear atypia. These pathologic findings were consistent with the preoperative diagnosis of pancreatic metastasis from RCC. Radical resection improves the long-term survival of patients, and total pancreatectomy may be an appropriate procedure.

J Nippon Med Sch 2008; 75: 221-224

Keywords
isolated multiple pancreatic metastases, total pancreatectomy, renal cell carcinoma

Correspondence to
Takayuki Aimoto, MD, Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8603, Japan
aimoto@nms.ac.jp

Received, February 13, 2008
Accepted, April 18, 2008