SPLENIC METASTASES - REPORT OF 4 CASES

The authors report about 4 cases of splenic metastases in patients wit h the following neoplasms: urothelial carcinoma of the left kidney, ad enocarcinoma of the uterine body, adenocarcinoma of the left flexure o f the colon, adenocarcinoma of the sigmoid loop. On large autopsy seri es, metastases to the spleen are not rare (7 % in average), and rank 1 0th among the 44 metastatic sites described in the literature. Cancers of the breast, lung, skin (melanoma), ovaries and stomach (cardia) ma ke up more than 60 % of the primary tumors. The diagnosis is most ofte n accidental (surveillance of operated patients), rarely clinical (pai n, splenomegaly), and it is based an medical imaging (ultrasound, CT). In the absence of hemostatic disorders, percutaneous needle biopsies are possible. Treatment, when at all possible, is surgical (splenectom y) and must comply with carcinological rules.