Abstract
We encountered four cases of resectable metastatic pancreatic cancer from colorectal cancers. The metastases arose from sigmoid colon cancer in two cases, and from rectal cancer in the other two. All of the colorectal cancer cases also showed Stage IIIa. One of the pancreatic metastases was a primary recurrence, while in the other three cases, the metastases developed after resection for other organ metastases. Pancreatectomy with lymph node dissection was performed in all the cases. Three cases had lymph node metastasis. Two cases died of pulmonary metastasis 11 months and 57 months after the pancreatectomy. The other two remain alive 12 months and 46 months after the pancreatectomy. We reviewed the date of 42 cases, including our own, of resected metastatic pancreatic cancer from colorectal cancer in Japan. The primary cancer was frequently rectal cancer, and many cases had lymph node metastases. Of all the cases, 27 metastatic pancreatic cancers were in the pancreatic body or tail, and 17 cases had lymph node metastases. A total of 15 cases lived for more than one year after the pancreatectomy, whereas 21 cases developed cancer recurrence and 8 cases died within only one year. Therefore, we suggest that patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer require adequate systemic investigation, and in selected cases, complete surgical resection and adjuvant chemotherapy can be administered safely.
