Korean J Med.  2013 Jul;85(1):77-82.

Two Cases of Supraclavicular Lymph Node Metastasis in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

• Min HJ
• Lee BM
• Kim DY
• Ahn P
• Park SH
• Han JW
• Kim JB

Abstract

The supraclavicular lymph node (SCN) is frequently involved in lymphoma and metastatic malignancies of the breast and lung, but is extremely rarely involved in pancreatic cancer. Only 10 such cases have been reported in the medical literature worldwide. We herein report an additional two cases. An 83-year-old male patient had a 7.6 x 5 cm pancreatic tumor from the pancreatic head to tail, and a 71-year-old male patient had a 2.8 x 1.9 cm pancreatic body tumor. PET-CT revealed SCN metastasis, and subsequent excisional biopsy confirmed metastatic adenocarcinoma. With the more popular use of PET-CT in patients with pancreatic cancer, the number of cases of metastasis to the SCN is expected to increase. This suggests that lymphatic spread is the main metastatic route in pancreatic cancer. Further large-scale studies along with increased numbers of case reports are needed to determine whether lymphatic spread is the main metastatic route in pancreatic cancer.

Keyword

Lymph node; Pancreas cancer; Adenocarcinoma; Metastasis; PET-CT

MeSH Terms

Adenocarcinoma
Biopsy
Breast
Head
Humans
Lung
Lymph Nodes
Lymphoma
Male
Neoplasm Metastasis
Pancreatic Neoplasms