Solitary pancreatic renal cell carcinoma metastasis

Pancreatic metastases are rare; they account for only 2% of all pancreatic malignancies and usually occur when associated with a disseminated metastatic disease. Solitary pancreatic metastases are even less frequent, and there are few reports regarding surgical resection. We report the case of a 77-year-old female patient diagnosed with a single cephalo-pancreatic metastasis of renal cell carcinoma, 16 years after a total nephrectomy. The patient underwent successful pancreaticoduodenectomy, and the diagnosis was confirmed. A subsequent positron emission tomography (PET) scan showed disease relapse, and tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment with sunitinib was initiated. After 1 year and 4 months, the PET-computed tomography scan showed a complete radiologic response.