Background: In general, malignant tumors metastasize to the pancreas in < 1% of cases. Most patients miss the opportunity for further surgery due to distant metastases; however, for fibrosarcomas, aggressive surgery may be helpful even if distant metastases occur. Hence, we report such a case and share some valuable information about the disease.
Case summary: A 45-year-old man was admitted with recurrent epigastric pain for 10 days. The abdominal pain was mainly related to bloating with nausea, but no other associated symptoms. No particular signs were found on abdominal examination or laboratory testing. In 2003, a local distal expanded resection of the primary fibrosarcoma in the left chest wall was performed. Then, a left pneumonectomy was performed in 2017 due to diffuse metastases from the fibrosarcoma to the left lung. Enhanced computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging of the upper abdomen suggested multiple masses of different sizes involving the head and tail of the pancreas; no local lymph node enlargement was noted. The postoperative pathologic diagnosis revealed a fibrosarcoma of the pancreas. A CT re-examination 6 mo postoperatively showed no local recurrence or distant metastases.
Conclusion: A fibrosarcoma is a rare low-grade malignant tumor, and metastases to the pancreas are even rarer. Patients with a history of a fibrosarcoma should consider the possibility of metastasis when a pancreatic neoplasm is demonstrated. Surgical resection is the preferred treatment.
Keywords: Case report; Magnetic resonance imaging; Metastasis; Pancreatic fibrosarcoma; Treatment.
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