This paper presents a patient surviving for a long time after hepatectomy and pneumonectomy for heterochronous metastases to the liver and lung following an operation for an ovarian cancer.
The patient was a 62-year-old woman. In 1985 she underwent total hysterectomy and excision of bilateral uterine supports for a left ovarian cancer (in Stage III; endometrioid adenocarcinoma), followed by systemic chemotherapy. In 1990 metastatic lesions were detected in the S6-S7 and S8 regions of the lateral lobe of the liver. Right lobectomy was carried out. In 1992 multiple metastatic lesions (left S3, S4, S5, and S6, and right S6) were found in the bilateral lobes of the lung. Pneumonectomies were performed by a two-step approach. Furthermore, in 1993 a recurrence in the right lung (S2) occurred which was cured by additional resection. There has been no sign of recurrence, as of 9 years and 2 months after the first operation for the ovarian cancer; 4 years and 5 months after the hepatic resection; and one year and 9 months after the last pneumonectomy.
Recurrence of ovarian cancer to the liver or lung has been hardly considered as a possible candidate for operation, and we rarely see such an operated case report. This case, however, indicates that aggressive surgical operation appears to contribute to a prolonged prognosis and improved quality of life.