Long-Term Survival after Curative Resection for Postoperative Dissemination of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report

INTRODUCTION: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a very poor prognosis and high mortality. The prognosis for recurrence after surgery is extremely poor. Resection for disseminations of PDAC is not recommended. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient was a 69-year-old woman with a pancreatic tumor that was detected with computed tomography (CT) during a postoperative colon cancer checkup. She was suspected of having pancreatic body cancer without distant metastasis. Distal pancreatectomy with celiac axis resection was performed. Postoperative pathological examination revealed an invasive ductal adenocarcinoma with lymph node metastasis (pT4N1M0, stage III). Postoperatively, she received adjuvant chemotherapy containing gemcitabine and S-1 for 1 year and 4 months, and S-1 monotherapy for 1 year. Six years and 2 months after the initial surgery, her serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 level elevated, and CT revealed soft tissue in front of the left kidney. Positron emission tomography/CT also revealed high fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in the tissue. Accordingly, the patient was diagnosed with dissemination of PDAC. The patient was administered chemotherapy with gemcitabine and S-1. One year and 6 months after the diagnosis of dissemination, CT revealed reduction of the nodule. Therefore, we decided to eliminate this dissemination. A left nephrectomy and partial gastrectomy were performed. Histopathological examination confirmed dissemination of PDAC. The patient refused adjuvant chemotherapy. No evidence of recurrence has been observed for 13 years and 3 months since the initial surgery, and 5 years and 1 month since the resection of the dissemination. CONCLUSIONS: This case showed a recurrence of dissemination after radical PDAC surgery, and the patient showed long-term survival without recurrence after dissemination resection. Resection of dissemination may confer long-term survival in selected patients.