Isolated splenic metastases.

Abstract

We analyzed the primary tumors, sonographic findings, clinical manifestations, and prognosis in five cases of isolated splenic metastases to determine in what situations these rare metastases should be suspected. The metastases were detected by ultrasonography in all five patients, and the primary tumors were colonic cancer in four patients and renal cancer in one patient. Splenectomy was performed and the postoperative course was uneventful in all patients. We conclude that preoperative and follow-up examinations must be performed with special attention given to the spleen in colonic or renal cancer patients.

Isolated splenic metastasis from colorectal cancer

“…Twenty-one cases were separately reported and five cases were described in two reports of patients with splenic metastases (one case in Lee et al [20] and four cases in Ishida et al [17]). Only four cases were diagnosed with synchronous splenic metastasis; the remaining 22 cases were classified as metachronous, with a median diseasefree interval of 40 months (range 3-144 months).…”

“…Only 26 cases of isolated solitary splenic metastasis from colorectal carcinoma have been reported in the English-language literature (Tables 1, 2) [4,5,9,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Twenty-one cases were separately reported and five cases were described in two reports of patients with splenic metastases (one case in Lee et al [20] and four cases in Ishida et al [17]).…”

“…In one recent study, 1.3% of 1280 sequential tumors in splenectomy specimens were metastatic [35]. In another study from Japan, 36 of 24761 patients (0.15%) examined by ultrasonography had splenic metastasis [17]. A Chinese report reviewing the clinical and autopsy records during a 25-year period found metastasis in 1.1% of 1743 sequential splenectomy specimens [36].…”

Isolated splenic metastasis of colon cancer: a case report and literature review

“…According to Imada et al 29 in 1991, these lesions usually appear as low-density masses at the computed tomography, while echography shows images of hypoechoic or hyperechoic patterns 6,29 . On the other hand, in 1997, Ishida et al 30 published a study in which they identified by echography the presence of four cases of splenic metastasis of primary colon cancer, then suggesting the importance of special attention to the spleen of a patient diagnosed with CRC, either in staging or follow-up 6,30 . In the follow-up period, increasing CEA values may suggest tumor recurrence, requiring a complementary investigation to identify the possible metachronous metastatic focus.…”

Splenectomy for non-haematological metastatic malignant disease

“…A more recent autopsy series found an incidence of 3% [5]. The advent of imaging techniques using ultrasound and cross-sectional imaging have demonstrated metastatic disease in the spleen in 0.15% of patients in a Japanese study of ultrasound imaging [6] and non-haematological malignancy was found in 1.3% of sequential splenectomy specimens at two centers in the USA [7]. A Chinese study reported 92 cases of splenic metastases in non-haematological malignant disease-an autopsy incidence of 0.6% and 1.1% of splenectomies were undertaken for metastatic disease during the study period [8].…”