If the spleen manufactures such an antiangiogenesis factor, its possible role in providing the apparent immunity of the spleen to tumor metastases needs to be defined. As is evident from the Table, all described patients with solitary metastases had a long disease-free interval after resection of the primary. This has been used as a good prognostic factor favoring resection of liver metastases. The long-term survival after splenectomy for isolated metastasis from colorectal cancer is not known. Splenectomy may be justified in the presence of isolated metastatic disease, since it is an operation with a low rate of operative complications and may provide potential for long-term survival.
More data are necessary before any firm recommendations can be made.
Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease. The metastases of carcinoma to the spleen. Intrasplenic metastases from carcinoma of the ovary. Solitary metastatic endometrial carcinoma of the spleen. Splenic metastases in hairy cell leukemia.