Abstract
We report a consecutive series of 37 patients undergoing surgery for ampullary carcinoma at our institute between January 1977 and December 2000, whose complication with other malignancies was analyzed as for its clinical aspects and occurrence by external comparison. Mean follow-up lasted 50 months (range: 0.1-190 months). Seven (19%) of 37 patients had at least 1 other tumor. The expected cancer occurrence using person-years method among the 37 was 1.4. The probability of observing 7 or more patients was assumed significantly small (p=0.0006). Of the 7 with at least 1 other tumor, 4 are alive, while 3 died: 1 from cardiac disease and 2 from other carcinomas. Multiple tumors were confined to the colon, rectum, and stomach. Our results suggest that patients with ampullary carcinoma are at increased risk of developing other cancers and should be carefully montitored over the long term to help ensure a positive prognosis.
