A surprising diagnosis: metastatic prostate cancer causing cervical lymphadenopathy

Cervical lymphadenopathy as an initial presentation for metastatic prostate cancer has been rarely described. Less than 30 cases have been published in medical literature whereby a lymph node biopsy revealed immunoreactivity for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) diagnosing metastatic prostate cancer. We present a unique scenario whereby an asymptomatic patient with previous high-risk gastric cancer presented to clinic with cervical lymphadenopathy. A hunt for a recurrence ensued to no avail and imaging of the head and neck showed no hint of a primary malignancy in those regions. A lymph node biopsy was undertaken which showed elements suggesting metastatic prostate cancer. The patient developed symptoms of urinary outflow obstruction shortly afterwards. Blood tests revealed a very high PSA and a bone scan showed widespread bony metastasis. He was started on androgen deprivation therapy with an improvement of his PSA and symptoms. A regular clinic follow-up has shown stable disease.