Emergency caudate lobectomy for ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma with multiple primary cancers

Abstract

We report a case of metachronous multiple primary malignancies involving both rectum and liver with colonic metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) through hematogenous pathway. A 72-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency department with right upper abdominal pain for 4 h. Considering her surgical history of Mile's procedure plus liver resection for rectal cancer with liver metastasis three years ago and the finding of urgent computed tomography scan on admission, the preoperative diagnosis was spontaneous rupture of rectal liver metastasis located in caudate lobe and colonic metastasis from rectal cancer. The patient underwent an emergency isolated caudate lobectomy at a hemorrhagic shock status. Pathology reported a primary HCC in the caudate lobe and colonic metastasis of HCC with tumor embolus in the surrounding vessels of the intestine. No regional lymph node involvement was found. It is hypothesized that HCC may disseminate hematogenously to the ascending colon, thus making it a rare case.

Keywords: Emergency isolated caudate lobectomy; Hematogenous metastasis; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Multiple primary malignancies; Rectal adenocarcinoma.

Figure 1

Urgent computed tomography. A: Sagittal view; B: Transverse view. 1: A ruptured mass of 6 cm × 6 cm × 6 cm localized in the I hepatic segment; 2: Perisplenic hemoperitoneum; 3: A 5 cm × 5 cm × 5 cm mass abutting the ileocecus without lymph node enlargement. L: Left; P: Posterior.

Figure 2

Histopathology. A: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) located in the caudate lobe [hematoxylin and eosin (HE), ×100]; B: Colonic metastasis of HCC (HE, ×100); C: Cancer embolus in the vessels surrounding the intestine (HE, ×100); D: Polyclonal hepatocyte antigen was positive by immunohistochemistry, ×100.