Incidental metastatic endocrine tumor diagnosed at laparoscopic radical prostatectomy and bilateral lymph node dissection

The introduction and expansion of laparoscopic and robotic radical retropubic prostatectomy (LRRP and RRRP) for organ-confined prostate cancer have led to an increase in pelvic lymphadenectomy specimens. Extended lymph node dissection (eLND) involves removing nodes over the obturator fossa, external ileac vessels as well as the internal iliac and increases the number of nodes examined. This has the potential to increase incidental nonprostatic nodal pathology identified in prostatectomy specimens. For the first time in the current literature we report the incidental diagnosis of a metastatic small bowel endocrine tumor in a 69-year-old gentleman, made at the time of LRRP and bilateral lymph node dissection. This report suggests that the benefit of an extended lymph node dissection is not only to prostate cancer control and staging, but also to the possibility of diagnosing potentially treatable incidental disease. It is a possibility that both pathologists and urologists alike should be aware of.