Abstract.
We report a case of heterochronic adrenal metastasis from colorectal carcinoma in a 51-year-old woman. A left adrenal metastasis was found by computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging 8 months after an anterior resection for advanced rectal carcinoma, and a left hepatectomy for a solitary liver metastasis. The level of serum carcinoembryonic antigen was still within the normal range. A left adrenalectomy was performed, and histopathological examination revealed adenocarcinoma, compatible with the rectal carcinoma resected 8 months earlier. The patient died of lung metastases 6 months after the adrenalectomy. A review of autopsy series in the world literature revealed that adrenal metastasis from colorectal cancer is not rare. Therefore, the possibility of adrenal metastasis should be considered in the follow-up of patients after primary surgery for colorectal cancer, even though the liver and lung are the main metastatic sites.
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Received: March 7, 2002 / Accepted: July 2, 2002
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Murakami, S., Terakado, M., Hashimoto, T. et al. Adrenal Metastasis from Rectal Cancer: Report of a Case. Surg Today 33, 126–130 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s005950300028
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s005950300028