Solitary metachronous adrenal metastasis after radical resection of gastric large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma: a case report and literature review

Abstract

Surgical resection is rarely employed for the treatment of metastatic gastric cancer, especially in patients with adrenal metastases, which usually indicate advanced systemic dissemination. Few published case reports have thus described the use of adrenalectomy for adrenal metastases from gastric cancer. In addition, most primary gastric malignancies are gastric adenocarcinomas, and gastric large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (GLCNEC) is less common and has a poor prognosis. We report the case of a 71-year-old man who was diagnosed with solitary adrenal metastases 10 months after radical resection for GLCNEC and who was treated by adrenalectomy. He was followed-up for 9 months after adrenalectomy, with no further evidence of disease at his last follow-up examination. This case indicates that elective surgical resection may be feasible, even in rare cases of GLCNEC metastases to the adrenal glands, provided that the patient meets certain criteria, including solitary, metachronous tumors less than 4 cm.