Pneumonectomy for lung metastases: report of ten cases.
Today, pulmonary resection for lung metastases is a widely accepted treatment if complete resection can be achieved. However, 5-year survival is only 40 %. Many patients develop recurrences, but some reports have demonstrated that salvage operations can result in a long-term survival. A resection of a complete lung or a resection of more than a lung is still controversial since procedure-related morbidity or mortality does not outweigh the survival benefit. We report on a series of 10 consecutive patients who underwent a primary pneumonectomy or an operation on the residual lung after pneumonectomy with curative intent for pulmonary metastases. 5 year survival rates for the 10 patients after pneumonectomy alone or with additional resection was 45 %, which was not significantly different from those who underwent a more minor resection with a 5-year survival of 39 % (p = 0.40). Since there is currently no alternative proven therapy for patients with isolated pulmonary metastases, a primary or completion pneumonectomy may be offered to selected patients as long as sufficient pulmonary reserve is present, and a complete resection can be achieved.
Hendriks
J M H
JM
Department of Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, University of Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium. jeroen.hendricks@uza.be
van Putte
B
B
Romijn
S
S
van den Brande
J
J
Vermorken
J B
JB
van Schil
P E
PE
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016879:Salvage Therapy / Q000379:methods; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D018243:Teratocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*