Pancreatic metastasis from gastric carcinoma: a case report.
BACKGROUND
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.


METHODS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Wente
Moritz N
MN
Department of General Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. moritz.wente@med.uni-heidelberg.de
Bergmann
Frank
F
Fröhlich
Boris E
BE
Schirmacher
Peter
P
Büchler
Markus W
MW
Friess
Helmut
H