Abstract
We report a patient requiring the resection of synchronous pancreatic and colon cancers. A 66-year-old woman was admitted to hospital with abdominal pain and vomiting. On colonoscopy, a type 2 mass in the ascending colon was found. On pathology of the biopsy, a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma was diagnosed. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy demonstrated an invasive lesion in the superior duodenal angle ; on pathology of the biopsy, a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma was again diagnosed. Abdominal computed tomography scanning showed the colonic tumor and a second, separate mass in the pancreatic head. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography did not show a stricture of either the pancreatic duct or the common bile duct. Tumor markers showed a CEA level of 42.8 ng/ml, a CA19-9 level of 670 U/ml, and a Span-1 antigen level of 132.5 U/ml. A right hemicolectomy and pancreaticoduodenectomy were performed. A difference in the cytokeratin 7 reactivity between the colon and pancreatic cancers was noted on immunohistochemistry. On pathology, the patient was diagnosed as having synchronous pancreatic and ascending colon primary cancers. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, and she was discharged on postoperative day 47.
