OUTCOME OF PATIENTS AFTER CURATIVE RESECTION OF PULMONARY METASTASES

Background. Resective surgery can play a role in solitary pulmonary me tastasis or in a few multiple metastases of the lungs. Methods. We per formed a retrospective analysis of the cure rate and survival in patie nts with pulmonary metastases after surgical resection.Inclusion crite ria included no evidence of extrapulmonary metastases or local control of the primary neoplasia, Selective adjunctive therapy was added when applicable. Results, Twenty-five out of 53 patients with resected pul monary metastases are still alive and disease free. After a 5-year per iod of follow-up the cure rate obtained was 42%. Conclusions. In selec ted patients, resective surgery of solitary or limited multiple pulmon ary metastases should be useful, offering the patients a high rate of curability and long term survival. These positive results suggest that adjunctive therapies should be added after resective surgery.