Abstract
Background: To summarize the clinical features, diagnosis and management of pancreatic cancer with ovarian metastasis.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of patients with ovarian metastases of primary pancreatic cancer who were admitted to our hospital from 01/01/1985 to 04/01/2020.Results: In total, there were 3757 female pancreatic-cancer patients. 9 of them were diagnosed with ovarian metastasis at an average age of 51.89 (38-69) years. The reason for the patients’ visit was generally a mass in the lower abdomen and/or abdominal pain. 7 patients had significantly higher serum CA19-9 levels. 8 patients had pancreatic tumors located in the body or tail; 1 patient, in the pancreatic head. All patients underwent excision of ovarian tumors and resection or biopsy of pancreatic tumors. 6 patients had pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), 2 had pancreatic cystadenocarcinoma (PCC), and 1 had pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma (PNEC), all revealed by the pathological results. Ovarian tumors were assessed by pathology and were consistent with pancreatic metastasis. Currently, 2 patients are still alive (followed until 04/2020). The median survival time for all patients was 7 months (2.9-22 months).Conclusions: Pancreatic cancer with ovarian metastases is rare and easily misdiagnosed. When ovarian tumors are suspected to be metastatic, elevated serum CA19-9 may indicate that the primary cancer is pancreatic. Enhanced CT can facilitate diagnostic localization. In addition, if the pancreatic tumor cannot be removed, the ovarian tumor should still be resected to reduce the tumor load and improve quality of life.
Circulating tumor cells in the diagnosis and management of pancreatic cancer