[Pulmonary resection for metastatic colorectal cancer]

We analyzed the outcome of 30 patients who underwent surgery (40 operations) for pulmonary metastases of colorectal cancer. Overall 5-year survival rate was 56%. There were no significant differences in survivals 5 years after the first surgery on the basis of potential prognostic factors: disease free interval, number of pulmonary metastases and size of metastatic lesion. Three patients with recurrent pulmonary metastases after the first resection underwent repeated resections and are alive 23, 58 and 62 months after the first pulmonary metastasectomy, respectively. Pulmonary resection for metastases from colorectal cancer prolonged the survival of patients, even those with bilateral lesions or recurrent metastases. These results confirm that pulmonary resection for metastatic colorectal cancer is a potentially curative therapy.