Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2023 Dec 4;86(1):580-587.
doi: 10.1097/MS9.0000000000001549. eCollection 2024 Jan.

Pancreatic metastasis of mesenchymal chondrosarcoma: a surgical case report and review of literature

Hung N Dang  1 , Phong A Tran  1 , Thanh N Dang  2 , Thai T Le  1 , Vi T T Le  3 , Hau H T Nguyen  4   5 , Hiep T Luong  6
Affiliations
Case Reports

Pancreatic metastasis of mesenchymal chondrosarcoma: a surgical case report and review of literature

Hung N Dang et al. Ann Med Surg (Lond). .

Abstract

Introduction: Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma (MC) is a rapidly progressive sarcoma that predominantly impacts the bones. Making up only 3% of chondrosarcomas, about one-third of these tumours develop in extra-skeletal sites.

Case presentation: The authors present a clinical case of a 42-year-old patient who was diagnosed with MC 8 years ago, now admitted to the hospital with a palpable epigastric mass. Clinical and laboratory examinations showed consistent results for MC tumours, with metastasis to the body and tail of the pancreas and invasion of the splenic vein. Surgical resection and systemic screening were performed to ensure that there were no lesions elsewhere. Regular follow-up has found no localized lesions or complications after 15 months.

Clinical discussion: Metastatic extra-skeletal mesenchymal chondrosarcoma of the pancreas is exceptionally rare. To our current understanding, only 14 such cases have been documented in medical literature. The symptoms of pancreatic metastasis are diverse and the radiographic features of metastatic mesenchymal chondrosarcoma are not typically distinct.

Conclusions: Although MC tumours do not frequently occur in sites other than the axial system, a tumour presenting later in a patient with a history of MC should be reviewed to confirm the diagnosis of metastatic MC. Treatment can vary between surgery, radiation therapy and systemic therapy.

Keywords: case report; mesenchymal chondrosarcoma; pancreatic metastasis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interests.Sponsorships or competing interests that may be relevant to content are disclosed at the end of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Axial mediastinal window (A) and coronal lung window (B) non-contrast enhanced computed tomography image.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Axial pre-contrast (A) and post-contrast arterial phase (B) and venous phase (C) computed tomography.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Axial pre-contrast (A) and post-contrast arterial phases (B) and axial (C), coronal (D) venous phases T1-weighted fat-suppressed; axial T2-weighted fat-suppressed (E). Further non-invasive and invasive tests show: a left-sided pancreatic tumour invading the splenic vein.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The specimen is extracted by a mini laparotomy in the middle line.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(A) Immunohistochemical staining of the pancreatic mass was performed. The histological analysis demonstrated the presence of mesenchymal cells that exhibited a tiny, round, and spindle-shaped morphology (blue arrow, magnification 1000×). (B) Furthermore, the image depicts the presence of distinct cartilage islets (denoted by a white star) that exhibit a sudden transition from the surrounding blue spherical cells (B, 1000×).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Axial (A), coronal (B) abdominal computed tomography pre-contrast (left) and post-contrast (right) arterial phase.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lightenstein L, Bernstein D. Unusual benign and malignant chondroid tumors of bone. A survey of some mesenchymal cartilage tumors and malignant chondroblastic tumors, including a few multicentric ones, as well as many atypical benign chondroblastomas and chondromyxoid fibromas. Cancer 1959;12:1142–1157. - PubMed
    1. Nakashima Y, Unni KK, Shives TC, et al. . Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma of bone and soft tissue. A review of 111 cases. Cancer 1986;57:2444–2453. - PubMed
    1. Fletcher, CDM, Unni K, Mertens F. World Health Organization classification of tumours. Pathology and genetics of tumours of soft tissue and bone, IARC press, 2002. http://www.iarc.fr/WHO-BlueBooks/BBwebsite/bb5.html
    1. Tsukamoto S, Honoki K, Kido A, et al. . Chemotherapy improved prognosis of mesenchymal chondrosarcoma with rare metastasis to the pancreas. Case Rep Oncol Med 2014;2014:249757. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Agha RA, Franchi T, Sohrabi C, et al. . The SCARE 2020 Guideline: Updating Consensus Surgical CAse REport (SCARE) Guidelines. Int J Surg (London, England) 2020;84:226–230. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources