title: Successful resection of a liver metastasis from AFP-producing pancreatic cancer resulting in long-term survival: a case report and review of literature.
abstract: The prognosis of patients with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-producing pancreatic cancer is generally very poor. We, however, present a case of a 33-year-old man who survived AFP-producing pancreatic cancer and its metachronous liver metastasis. The patient had undergone a curative total pancreatectomy for AFP-producing pancreas head cancer invading to the tail, which was postoperatively confirmed by immunohistochemical staining of the resected specimen. At 1 year and 4 months after the operation, the serum AFP level was elevated to 26 ng/mL, and a 2.6 cm-sized mass was found in the lateral segment of the liver. He underwent lateral segmentectomy, and the tumor was histopathologically diagnosed as having metastasized from the AFP-producing pancreatic cancer removed earlier. The patient is doing well 8 years and 5 months after resecting the liver metastasis, with no signs of recurrence. This case suggests that surgery may also be a treatment of choice for patients with liver metastasis from AFP-producing pancreatic cancer, particularly for those with a metachronous and solitary tumor. It should be remembered that some pancreatic cancers produce AFP and that monitoring of postoperative serum AFP levels in such cases will be useful for early detection of recurrence and selection of appropriate surgical intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Funabashi Municipal Medical Center, Funabashi, Chiba, Japan. natsu-22@cameo.plala.or.jp
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Natsume
authors.forename: Yoshiji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Kota
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sunouchi
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tohma
authors.forename: Miho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noju
authors.forename: Yorihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Muto
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tohnosu
authors.forename: Toshitaka
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uehara
authors.forename: Shin-ichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Takenori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ochiai
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nabeya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D017741:Survivors; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins