Adrenal metastasis from rectal cancer: report of a case.
We report a case of heterochronic adrenal metastasis from colorectal carcinoma in a 51-year-old woman. A left adrenal metastasis was found by computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging 8 months after an anterior resection for advanced rectal carcinoma, and a left hepatectomy for a solitary liver metastasis. The level of serum carcinoembryonic antigen was still within the normal range. A left adrenalectomy was performed, and histopathological examination revealed adenocarcinoma, compatible with the rectal carcinoma resected 8 months earlier. The patient died of lung metastases 6 months after the adrenalectomy. A review of autopsy series in the world literature revealed that adrenal metastasis from colorectal cancer is not rare. Therefore, the possibility of adrenal metastasis should be considered in the follow-up of patients after primary surgery for colorectal cancer, even though the liver and lung are the main metastatic sites.
Murakami
Saburo
S
Department of Surgery, Saitama Medical School, 38 Morohongo, Moroyama-machi, Iruma-gun, Saitama 350-0945, Japan.
Terakado
Masahiro
M
Hashimoto
Taiju
T
Tsuji
Yoshitaka
Y
Okubo
Katsuhiko
K
Hirayama
Renzo
R
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D000310:Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D000315:Adrenalectomy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D008875:Middle Aged; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*