Late recurrence of a prostatic adenocarcinoma as a solitary splenic metastasis

Splenic metastases of solid tumors are exceptional. We report the first case of an isolated splenic metastasis from prostate carcinoma, 5 years after radical prostatectomy. The splenic tumor was revealed by a pain and progressive increase in the serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level. Histology of the spleen showed an adenocarcinoma immunostained with cytokeratin and PSA markers. The patient remained asymptomatic and his serum PSA level was within normal limits 17 months after the splenectomy. This case suggests that splenic metastasis might be the result of the growth of an early blood-borne micrometastasis within the spleen after a period of clinical latency.