Abstract : ? Context.—Many studies have addressed metastatic pat-
terns seen among various cancers. No recen
more
Abstract : ? Context.—Many studies have addressed metastatic pat-
terns seen among various cancers. No recent studies, how-
ever, provide quantitative analyses of such patterns arising
from a broad range of cancers based primarily on post-
mortem tissue analyses.
Objective.—To provide a quantitative description of
metastatic patterns among different primary cancers based
on data obtained from a large, focused autopsy study.
Design.—Review of data from 3827 autopsies, per-
formed between 1914 and 1943 on patients from 5 af?li-
ated medical centers, comprising 41 different primary can-
cers and 30 different metastatic sites.
Results.—Testicular cancers were most likely to metas-
tasize (5.8 metastases per primary cancer), whereas duo-
denal cancers were least likely to do so (0.6 metastases per
primary cancer). Preferred metastatic sites varied among
the primary cancers analyzed. Overall, regional lymph
nodes were the most common metastatic target (20.6% of
total), whereas testes were the least common (0.1% of to-
tal).
Conclusions.—Not surprisingly, different primary can-
cers tended to metastasize, with differing frequencies, to
different sites. These varying metastatic patterns might be
helpful in deducing the origins of cancers whose primary
sites are unclear at presentation.
(Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2008;132:931–939) - Slides
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