Surgery for secondary tumors of the pancreas

Background: The majority of pancreatic tumors are primary. The pancreas can however be the site of metastasis from renal cell cancer, lung, colon and breast cancers. The value of surgical treatment is unclear in such situations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of surgical therapy in patients with isolated metastases to the pancreas.

Methods: All patients who underwent pancreatic surgery for malignant disease from 1999 to 2005 (n=338) at the department of hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, the Royal London Hospital, London, were evaluated from a retrospective pancreatic database. Five patients had metastatic pancreatic cancer. Surgical outcome and survival were examined in this subset of patients.

Results: The primary cancer was renal cell carcinoma (n=2), breast (n=1), colon (n=1) and ovarian (n=1). The two patients with renal cell carcinoma developed pancreatic metastases years from the primary diagnosis. Both patients are alive 56 and 36 months post surgery. Two patients with breast and ovarian primary presented years after diagnosis of the primary but had advanced unresectable disease. There was one patient with colonic primary and synchronous pancreatic metastasis, and had a colectomy and Whipple's operation, and is alive 64 months postoperatively.

Conclusion: The pancreas is an uncommon site for metastasis. Patients can present years after the treatment of primary. Long-term survival can be achieved with pancreatic resection in a highly selected subset of patients, and patients with primary renal cell carcinoma seem to have a favorable prognosis.