Clinicopathological features and surgical outcomes of pancreatic metastasis from thyroid cancer.

Background: Owing to their rarity, pancreatic metastases from thyroid cancers have not been fully elucidated.

Methods: Observational studies written in English between 1990 and 2020 were included in this review.

Results: The median duration from thyroidectomy to the diagnosis of pancreatic metastases was 105 months. Twenty-five patients underwent surgery, including pancreatoduodenectomy in 10, distal pancreatectomy in 10, enucleation in 4, and total pancreatectomy in 1. The remaining 5 patients did not undergo surgery. Twenty-one patients survived and 9 died, with a median overall survival of 61 months. The overall 5-year survival rate after diagnosis was 58.7%. Of these patients, the overall 5-year survival rate was 63.4% in patients who underwent surgery (surgery group, n = 21), while 2 patients were censored during follow-up, and one patient died 20 months after diagnosis (non-operative group, n = 3) (p = 0.567). Of these patients, the overall 5-year survival rate was 85.7% in patients with curative resection and 53.6% in patients with noncurative resection.

Conclusions: Patients with pancreatic metastases from thyroid cancer had good prognosis, if curative resection can be performed.