Palliative resection of mucinous cystoadenocarcinoma of the pancreas Mimiking Gastric Tumor with liver, and splenic metastases

Abstract

Background Mucinous cystadenocarcinomas of the pancreas are uncommon tumors. When they affect only the pancreas, surgery usually involves a better prognosis. We describe a case report of a young male patient with mucinous cystadenocarcinomas of the pancreas focusing on the tumor-like mimicking gastric adenocarcinoma. Methods We report the case of a twenty-seven-year-old male with a mucinous cystadenocarcinoma of the pancreas with gastric infiltration and hepatic and intra-splenic metastases. A pancreatic tail resection with total gastrectomy, splenectomy, cholecystectomy, V-VI hepatic segmentectomy and extended D2+ lymphadenectomy was performed. Results After 24 months of follow-up, the patient presented progression of the disease with multiple unresectable hepatic metastases. Conclusion Mucinous cystadenocarcinomas has a better prognosis after surgical resection when it is located only in the pancreas and there are no distant metastasis. The prognosis in patients who are not candidates for surgery or in those in whom metastasis already exists at the time of diagnosis is bleak. However palliative resection may improve survival and quality of life in those cases.