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Review of Merkel cell carcinoma with solitary pancreatic metastases mimicking primary neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas

  • Clinical Review
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Abstract

Objective/Background

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) but metastases to the pancreas are very rare. There are only a few cases of isolated metastases of MCC to the pancreas. Because of this rarity, it can be wrongly diagnosed as a neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas(pNET), especially the poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma (PNEC) subtype, in which the treatment is vastly different than that of MCC with isolated metastases of the pancreas.

Methods

An electronic search of the PubMed and google scholar databases was performed to obtain the literature on MCC with pancreatic metastases, using the following search terms: Merkel cell carcinoma, pancreas, and metastases. Results are limited to the following available article types: case reports and case series. We identified 45 cases of MCC with pancreatic metastases from the PubMed and Google Scholar database search and examined their potential relevance. Only 22 cases with isolated pancreatic metastases were taken for review including one case that we encountered.

Results

The results from our review of cases of isolated pancreatic metastases of MCC were compared to the characteristics of the poorly differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (PNEC). We found the following: (a) MCC with isolated pancreatic metastases occurred at an older age than PNEC and with male gender predominance (b) Most of the metastases occurred within 2 years of initial diagnosis of MCC (c) Resection of pancreatic mass was the first line treatment in case of resectable PNECs whereas resection of metastases was infrequently performed in MCC with pancreatic metastases.

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  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Akriti Pokhrel

  2. Department of Pathology, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Richard Wu & Jen Chin Wang

  3. Department of Hematology and Oncology, Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Akriti Pokhrel, Richard Wu & Jen Chin Wang

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Pokhrel, A., Wu, R. & Wang, J.C. Review of Merkel cell carcinoma with solitary pancreatic metastases mimicking primary neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas. Clin J Gastroenterol 16, 641–662 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-023-01821-x

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