Surgery for metastatic tumors of the pancreas

Metastatic lesion of the pancreas originated from other organs is uncommon. The aim of this report was to evaluate the outcome of surgery in patients with isolated metastases to the pancreas. Nine patients underwent pancreatic resection for metastatic malignant disease from 2000 to 2015 at the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery of the Kumamoto University Hospital. The primary lesion was renal cell carcinoma in 7 cases, colon cancer in 1 and malignant melanoma in 1. The median interval from the initial operation to pancreatic resection was 138 months. Operative procedure was distal pancreatectomy in 6 cases, pancreaticoduodenectomy in 2 and total pancreatectomy in 1. Two patients with renal cell carcinoma and 1 patient with malignant melanoma died 131, 108, and 4 months after the pancreatic resection, respectively. Other 6 patients have survived until now with 23.5 months of observation periods after pancreatic resection. In conclusion, pancreatic metastasis can develop years after the treatment of primary lesion. Pancreatic resection can achieved long-term survival, at least in the patients who had primary renal carcinoma.