Metastatic prostate cancer presenting as obstructive jaundice

Metastatic cancer of the prostate, presenting with carcinomatous obstruction of the common bile duct as a cause of jaundice and abnormal liver function tests is very unusual. The literature suggests an association between abnormal liver function tests and poor survivability in those patients with liver parenchymal metastases. This case illustrates that patients with abnormal liver function tests on the basis of extrahepatic ductal obstruction may have a better prognosis than those with hepatic disease.