Long-Term Survival Following Port-Site Metastasectomy in a Patient with Laparoscopic Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer: A Case Report

Port-Site Metastasis After Laparoscopic Gastrectomy Extending to the Thigh: A Case Report

Port-site metastasis (PSM) is rare following laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Previous reports focused on localized lesions treated with excision; contrastingly, case reports describing extensive invasion into the lower extremity skeletal muscles causing deterioration in activities of daily living are nonexistent. A 55-year-old male underwent a laparoscopic distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer. The pathological findings revealed a stage IIIA tumor. Two years later, skin hardening was observed on the left upper abdominal wall. Computed tomography displayed a 13-cm-long, flat tumor along the skeletal muscle around the left upper 12 mm port site and right hydronephrosis. The patient was diagnosed with PSM and retroperitoneal recurrence. Despite chemotherapy, three years postoperatively, PSM widely spread from the left upper abdomen to the left thigh, eventually inducing opioid-resistant leg pain and subsequent walking difficulties. Palliative radiotherapy could not improve these symptoms. The patient died three years and five months postoperatively. Extensively invasive PSM can induce refractory cancer pain and physical disorders. Therefore, early detection and palliative resection of PSM may help maintain the quality of life of patients with gastric cancer.

Large desmoid tumour of the small bowel mesentery

A 74-year-old man was being investigated for a pancreatic insulinoma when an incidental mesenteric mass measuring 2.6 cm x 2.5 cm was noticed on CT imaging. A wait-and-see approach was decided on. Thirty-nine months later, the patient presented with symptoms of abdominal obstruction. CT images revealed the mesenteric mass filled majority of the abdominal cavity and measured 29 cm x 26 cm x 16 cm. The patient underwent an open bypass gastrojejunostomy which stopped working a few weeks later due to further compression by the tumour. A debulking surgery was performed: a right hemicolectomy and small bowel resection with excision of the desmoid tumour and bypass gastrojejunostomy. The tumour measured 12.6 kg and was macroscopically visualised to have a white cut surface with a focal translucent area. Microscopic analysis revealed bland spindle cells with pale eosinophilic cytoplasm showing no cytological atypia, in keeping with a mesenteric desmoid tumour. Currently, two and a half years from the debulking surgery, the patient remains well and in remission with planned surveillance.

Solitary port-site metastasis 42 months after laparoscopic distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer

We report a case of solitary port-site recurrence after laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer. A 66-year-old man had previously undergone laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy with regional lymph-node dissection for advanced gastric cancer, which was a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma invading the subserosal layer with lymphatic infiltration and no lymph-node metastases. He experienced dull pain in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen 42 months after the surgery. On physical examination, erythematous induration of the skin around the scar of the port insertion was observed in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. Abdominal ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed a subcutaneous lesion with a well-defined mass measuring 3.0 cm in diameter located in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. A skin biopsy revealed a metastatic adenocarcinoma from gastric cancer. Since there was no evidence of further metastatic lesions in other organs, the patient underwent surgical resection of the metastatic tumor arising at the port site. The abdominal wall tumor was resected with a leaf-skin incision and an adequate safety margin, and the inferior border of the tumor reached the muscular layer, which was resected with the tumor. Pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma in the subcutaneous tissue with invasion of the muscle layer at the port site. The postoperative course was uneventful; chemotherapy using oxaliplatin plus S-1 was administered, and the patient was in good health with no evidence of the disease for 3 months postoperatively. Although port-site metastasis after laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric cancer is a rare recurrence form, we should be aware of this issue, and further studies and assessments of additional cases are needed to establish a treatment strategy.

Metachronous port site, muscular and subcutaneous metastases from a gastric adenocarcinoma: a case report and review of articles

Background

Port site metastasis (PSM) after curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer and muscular metastasis from gastric cancer are rare manifestations. Similarly, subcutaneous metastasis from gastric cancer is rare, and muscular and subcutaneous metastases are associated with poor prognosis. We report a case of long-term survival in a patient who underwent curative resection of gastric cancer and repeated recurrence of port site, muscular and subcutaneous metastases from gastric cancer, treated by resection.

Case presentation

A 75-year-old man was diagnosed with gastric cancer and referred to our department. Upper endoscopy demonstrated a 5-cm circumferential ulcerated lesion at the cardia. Biopsy findings showed a poorly differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma. He underwent laparoscopic total gastrectomy with lymph node dissection, and pathologic examination revealed a moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma stage T4aN1M0 and IIIA according to the UICC (Union for International Cancer Control) classification. He refused adjuvant chemotherapy and was only carefully observed. Twenty-three months after the primary gastrectomy, computed tomography (CT) revealed an irregular mass near the port site wounds. Then the patient underwent mass resection, and the pathological diagnosis was consistent with metastatic adenocarcinoma, located in the subcutaneous tissue at the port site wounds. Thirteen months after the second surgery, CT revealed an enhanced mass in the abdominal wall. Positron emission tomography (PET) CT showed an elevated uptake in the rectus abdominis muscle and a standardized uptake value (SUV) of 3.1. The patient underwent another mass resection, and the pathological diagnosis was consistent with metastatic adenocarcinoma in the rectus abdominis muscle. Thirty-five months after the third surgery, CT revealed a mass in the left gluteal subcutaneous region. Furthermore, PET-CT revealed a 35-mm mass with an elevated SUV of 9.6. Another mass resection procedure was performed, and the pathological diagnosis was consistent with metastatic adenocarcinoma in the subcutaneous tissue. Since tumor cells were present at the resection margin, additional radiation therapy was performed. The patient has survived 78 months after primary gastrectomy.

Conclusion

The prognosis of muscular and subcutaneous metastases from gastric cancer is poor. However, if the metastatic tumor is solitary, surgical excision could be a feasible treatment option and might prolong survival.

Surgical Treatment of Port-Site Metastases After Laparoscopic Radical Resection of Gastrointestinal Tumors

Aim: This study was performed to investigate the feasibility of surgical treatment of port-site metastasis after laparoscopic radical resection of gastrointestinal tumors. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data and follow-up data of 8 patients with port-site metastases after gastrointestinal cancer resection in our hospital from January 2014 to January 2018. Results: Six of port-site metastases occurred within 6 months after gastrointestinal tumor resection, one of port-site metastases occurred in 10 months after the operation, and one of port-site metastases occurred in 30 months after the operation. Any metastasis to the abdominal cavity or distant metastasis was ruled out before the surgical treatment of the port-site metastases, and all patients recovered well after the extended operation. No incisional infection or incisional hernia occurred. By December 2019, 4 patients had died (they had survived for 12, 13, 18, and 24 months, respectively) and 5 patients had survived. The follow-up duration ranged from 19 to 28 months. Conclusions: Surgical resection of port-site metastases is not difficult because of their superficial location. Surgical treatment can improve the prognosis of patients without abdominal metastasis or distant metastasis/recurrence.

Oligometastatic recurrence of an oesophageal adenocarcinoma at a chest drain site following radical treatment: palliative treatment or resection?

A 62-year-old female patient diagnosed with oesophageal adenocarcinoma underwent radical treatment consisting of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and oesophagectomy with no major complications. Eleven months later, she re-presented with a mass at one of the chest drain sites. A PET-CT scan and biopsy demonstrated this to be a single recurrence of the oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Excision of the metastatic lesion was considered as per metachronous single site metastasis. However, the operation was postponed due to acute kidney injury. Restaging after 6 weeks revealed progressive metastatic disease. The patient underwent palliative therapy and passed away soon after. Oesophageal cancer recurrence has a very poor prognosis, and factors such as the disease-free interval, site of recurrence and tumour pathological factors must be considered when stratifying for suitability for metastasectomy. A period of watchful waiting followed by restaging is essential to rule out patients with indolent metastatic disease.

Preoperative gastric lavage in gastric cancer patients undergoing surgical, endoscopic or minimally invasive treatment: An oncological measure preventing peritoneal spillage of intragastric cancer cells and development of related metastases

In addition to classical metastatic pathways, recently gastric cancer was described having an alternative route called "endoluminal exfoliation". Provisional analyses demonstrated, in fact, this kind of shedding is associated with several clinico-pathological features indicative of aggressive behavior and resulted to be an independent prognostic factor entailing poor prognosis. Compared with non-sowing counterparts, in fact, patients affected with exfoliating early and advanced gastric carcinomas met with shorter overall survival, disease free survival, progression free survival and time to tumor progression. In spite of these interesting results, however, the clinico-pathological and oncological significance of this unconventional metastatic route is still to be clarified. Such an investigation is further urged by the increasing widespread employment of minimally invasive treatments for gastric cancer which include a wide spectrum of intragastric interventions and maneuvers. Indeed, endoscopic mucosal resection, endoscopic submucosal dissection, endoscopic full-thickness resection, intragastric laparoscopic surgery and hybrid procedures all take place inside of the stomach. However, iatrogenic perforations can occur during execution of these treatments leading to spillage of malignant cells from gastric to the peritoneal cavity or trocar insertion sites. Furthermore, many other gastric conditions and interventions can collide with endogastric presence of floating cancer cells: spontaneous ulceration or perforation, laparotomy surgery, gastrointestinal occlusion, diverticula. Viability, migration and intraluminal transportability of the intragastric floating cancer cells represents another original and intriguing topic. All these considerations led us to entertain the hypothesis that removing the exfoliated cancer cells from the gastric lumen could save patients from the dreaded potential risk of spillage. Performing gastric lavage before starting any kind of tumor intervention could be the most appropriate procedure to adopt with prophylactic intent. Should our speculation prove to be clinically significant, preoperative gastric lavage should be pointed out as a simple but cogent method useful for preventing oncological mishaps such as spillage of gastric cancer cells and development of related recurrences or metastases.