Long-term survival after surgical resection for recurrent hepatic and pulmonary metastases of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a case report

BACKGROUND: A few reports to date have described the effectiveness of surgical resection for recurrent intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). We report in this study a patient who achieved long-term survival after surgical resection for recurrent hepatic and pulmonary metastases of ICC. CASE PRESENTATION: A 62-year-old man was referred to our hospital for examination of a tumor in the left lobe of the liver. Computed tomography (CT) scans of the abdomen revealed a hypovascularized tumor, 30 mm in hepatic segment 2 (S2). The patient was diagnosed with a mass-forming type of ICC. A left lateral sectionectomy with regional lymph node dissection was performed. Histopathological examination showed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma in the hepatic S2 with lymph node metastasis. There were two intrahepatic metastases around the main tumor. The pathological stage of the ICC was pT2pN1M0pStageIIIB. The patient did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery. Twelve months after surgery, liver lesions in S4/S8 and S7 were detected on CT scans. A partial hepatectomy was performed. The histopathological features were similar to those of the previous ICC. The patient did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy after the repeat hepatectomy. Four years and four months after this repeat hepatectomy, CT scans showed multiple nodes in S4 and S10 of the left lung and in S1 of the right lung. Wedge resection of the left upper lobe and sectionectomy in S10 of the left lung were performed. Histopathological findings of the resected lung nodules were compatible with metastatic ICC. The nodule in S1 of the right lung was too small to be diagnosed as metastasis; therefore, it was not resected. After pulmonary resection, the patient was treated with gemcitabine and cisplatin for 6 months. After chemotherapy, the size of the nodule in S1 increased gradually. One year and ten months after the pulmonary resection, we performed wedge resection of S1 of the right lung, and the histopathological findings were compatible with metastatic ICC. The patient is alive without evidence of disease 8 years after the initial surgery and 8 months after the last pulmonary resection. CONCLUSIONS: ICC with poor prognostic factors can frequently recur; however, surgical resection for recurrent ICC might, for selected patients, enable long-term survival.