Solitary pancreatic metastasis from renal cell carcinoma concomitant with early gastric cancer 17 years after nephrectomy: report of a case.

The pancreas is an uncommon site for metastasis from renal cell carcinoma. We report the case of a 70-year-old man in whom a solitary pancreatic metastasis from renal cell carcinoma, found 17 years after nephrectomy, was successfully resected, combined with gastrectomy for early gastric cancer. We also discuss the relevant literature, including all the reports of pancreatic metastasis from renal cell carcinoma found in Medline. More than half the cases, like ours, were asymptomatic. A good prognosis can be expected once the pancreatic metastatic lesions are surgically excised, especially if it is a solitary metastasis. Therefore, surgical resection of pancreatic metastases is recommended to achieve the best chance of long-term survival. Special attention must be paid to the possibility of recurrence, even more than 10 years after nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma, and imaging modalities should be part of the routine follow-up to detect metastases at an early stage.