Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a common cancer, but pancreatic metastasis of RCC is unusual. Because of the rarity and peculiarity, pancreatic lesions from RCC metastasis were described mostly in case reports which highlight the importance of a systematic analysis of this clinical condition.
Data sources: Data of 7 patients with pancreatic metastasis of RCC treated in the Peking Union Medical College Hospital were extracted and 193 similar patients reported in the past 10 years from the literature were analyzed. Epidemiological, pathological and follow-up information were investigated. Potential prognostic factors were compared with corresponding data reported 10 years ago.
Results: Multivariate Cox regression showed that asymptomatic metastasis and surgical procedure were independent factors associated with better survival. Compared with the data reported 10 years ago, follow-up of RCC patients has been emphasized in recent years, and atypical surgery is frequently used since it has similar effect as typical surgery on tumor resection while it is able to preserve more pancreatic function.
Conclusion: Surgical treatment should be an option as long as the pancreatic metastasis of RCC is resectable.