Hepatocellular carcinoma with pancreatic mass as the first symptom: a case report and literature review

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and primary pancreatic cancer are common malignant tumors of the digestive system. However, there are significant differences in treatment methods, medication types, and survival prognoses. For patients whose imaging findings suggest there to be a significant pancreatic mass and multiple masses in the liver, it can be easily misdiagnosed as a primary pancreatic cancer with liver metastasis in the clinic instead. Therefore, patients with a high likelihood of primary pancreatic cancer based on their clinical data, the pathological diagnosis should be confirmed through a needle biopsy as early as possible to avoid a misdiagnosis and possible mistreatment. In this study, our department admitted a patient with HCC that was characterized by a pancreatic occupation. The clinical data originally highly suggested primary pancreatic cancer with liver metastasis, but the final pathological puncture results had confirmed pancreatic metastasis of HCC. This case reminds us that a pathological biopsy should still be used as the final means of definite diagnosis and should be widely popularized for pancreatic nodules.