A LONG SURVIVOR WITH RESECTED HETEROCHRONOUS METASTASES TO THE LIVER AND LUNG AFTER AN OPERATION FOR AN OVARIAN CANCER

Abstract

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.