Multiple primary malignancies of the liver and the colon: a complex diagnostic and decisional process with a final unanswered question

World J Surg Oncol. 2014 Mar 29:12:75. doi: 10.1186/1477-7819-12-75.

Abstract

We herein present the case of a 78-year-old man with an incidental finding of a solid hepatic mass without symptoms and only a laparotomic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis in the past surgical history. A colonoscopy, a magnetic resonance imaging scan, a positron emission tomography scan, and a computed tomography scan completed the preoperative workup: a neoplastic lesion 4.3×3 cm in size was diagnosed at segments IV and V, associated with a neoplastic involvement of the splenic flexure without signs of colonic occlusion. After colonic resection, a frozen section on a granulomatous-like tissue at gastric border suggested a diagnosis of an adenocarcinoma of bilio-pancreatic type, changing the surgical strategy to include gastric resection and hepatic pedicle node dissection. The discussion turns around the idea that a final diagnosis of colon cancer with regional nodal involvement (pT3N1) and metastatic gallbladder cancer with multiple peritoneal seedings cannot be excluded.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / diagnosis*
  • Adenocarcinoma / surgery
  • Aged
  • Colonic Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Colonic Neoplasms / surgery
  • Colonoscopy
  • Gallbladder Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Gallbladder Neoplasms / surgery
  • Humans
  • Incidental Findings
  • Liver Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Liver Neoplasms / surgery
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / diagnosis*
  • Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / surgery
  • Prognosis
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed