Pancreatic metastasis from clear cell renal carcinoma: a clinical case

Renal cell carcinoma rarely metastasizes to the pancreas. In this report we describe a case of late pancreatic metastases in a seventy-year-old woman, surgically treated 21 years before for renal clear-cell carcinoma. Preoperative staging revealed the presence of four pancreatic lesions. A distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy were performed, and the postoperative period was complication-free. Histopathological analysis revealed metastases from renal clear-cell carcinoma. This case shows that in patients operated on for renal clear-cell carcinoma we have to consider the possibility of late metastases to the pancreas. Therefore, these patients should be submitted to long-term follow-up. In keeping with the current literature, we advocate aggressive surgical treatment in pancreatic metastases from renal clear-cell carcinoma.