Metastatic pancreas tumor undergoing distal pancreatectomy 30 years after renal cell carcinoma resection

Abstract

We report a case of a 79-year-old woman, who had undergone left nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma 30 years previously and proved to have pancreas tumor by MRI when she saw us for lumbar pain. We diagnosed the pancreas tumor as solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) and performed distal pancreatectomy. Histopathologically and immunohistochemically, the pancreas tumor was proved to be a metastatic tumor from the renal cell carcinoma. Metastatic pancreas tumors from renal cell carcinoma often occur with multiple organ metastases, in which case resection is contraindicated. However, surgical treatment of isolated metastatic pancreas lesions is considered to offer a chance of long-term survival. This is the first case of isolated metastatic pancreas tumor from renal cell carcinoma after more than 30 years from primary operation, ever reported in Japan.