[Metachronus splenic metastasis of colon cancer. A case report]

Colon cancer metastases rarely involve the spleen; in the literature only 29 cases of isolated splenic metastasis of colon cancer are reported (9 in the English literature and 29 in the Japanese literature). In this paper, a further case of isolated splenic metastasis in a 73 year- old woman, treated six years before with left emicolectomy for a mucinous colon cancer (Dukes B) is reported. A survey of the English literature shows that most of the cases had a significant period between the first original resection and the diagnosis of spleen metastasis (2-11 years). Splenectomy was performed in all the cases reported. No long-term follow-up has been published; therefore, it is not possible to define if spleen metastases of colon cancer have a better clinical behaviour than hepatic metastases and if splenectomy can prevent metastatic spreading of the disease leading to a potential survival benefit.