Liver metastases from pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in Europe and the United States (Malvezzi et al Ann Oncol 24(3):792 - 800, 2013). At the time of diagnosis, approximately half of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma will have synchronous metastasis. Patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer generally have a median survival of 6 months and a 5-year survival of about 2 - 5 %. The liver is a frequent site of metastasis as pancreatic adenocarcinoma can metastasize to the liver through portal venous or intra-abdominal lymphatic drainage. For example, in a study from Johns Hopkins Hospital, among 838 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma who underwent a pancreatectomy, 46 % subsequently developed metachronous liver metastasis. Of note, among those patients with pancreatic cancer metastatic to the liver, 60 % had isolated liver metastasis without extrahepatic recurrence at the time of last follow-up.