Solitary splenic metastasis of endometrial carcinoma ten years after hysterectomy. Case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Solitary carcinomatous metastases to the spleen are rare. The reports of such cases in the literature usually concern late stages of the disease, with generalized carcinomatosis and metastatic foci in several other organs. Primary tumors that most often metastasize to the spleen are carcinomata of the breast, lung and ovaries, as well as malignant melanomata. Less often, carcinomata of the stomach, large bowel and kidneys are reported to implicate the organ with metastatic disease. The presence of solitary splenic metastasis of endometrial origin however, is extremely rare. We present a case of a 53-year-old female patient who ten years after hysterectomy due to the presence of endometrial carcinoma developed a metastatic focus to the spleen. This focus was diagnosed on the grounds of histology and immunohistochemistry, after splenic excision, to be of endometrial origin. Together with this case presentation, several aspects of the disease and its differential diagnosis are discussed, in correlation with the current literature.