Metastatic carcinoma to percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube sites. A report of five cases.

Abstract

To characterize the clinicopathologic features of metastatic carcinomas at percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube sites. We reviewed the metastatic malignancies at PEG tube sites (2002-2011). Five patients were identified, each with primary head and neck keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma. The metastases had a mean size of 6.08 cm (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.75-8.41). The time from PEG tube placement to metastasis diagnosis was 9.8 months (95% CI, 6.59-13.01). The survival times from PEG tube placement and from metastasis diagnosis were 23.5 (95% CI, 7.65-39.35) and 13.7 (95% CI, 0-31.08) months, respectively. Compared with a meta-analysis of the largest case series, our male patients were significantly older (mean, 73 years; 95% CI, 62.2-83.9 vs mean 59 years, 95% CI, 56.0-62.0) but had similar survival times. Despite their older ages, our male patients had similar survival times to those reported previously. Larger series are needed to confirm our findings and explore the causes.