Pulmonary metastasectomy is associated with prolonged survival among patients with bone and soft tissue sarcoma

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the survival impact of surgical resection among patients with pulmonary metastases from bone and soft tissue sarcomas. A total of 34 consecutive patients with ≤5 pulmonary metastases from bone and soft tissue sarcomas were retrospectively reviewed. The patients included 19 men and 15 women, with a median age of 64.0 years and a median follow-up of 14.5 months. The oncological outcome was compared between patients who underwent surgical and non-surgical treatment. A total of 22 patients underwent surgery and 12 patients did not undergo surgery. The surgery group had 3- and 5 year overall survival rates of 62 and 53%, respectively. None of the patients in the non-surgery group survived to 3 years. Compared with the non-surgery group, surgery achieved significantly better 3- and 5 year overall survival rates. Pulmonary metastasectomy was associated with significantly improved survival among patients who were aged <64 years (P=0.0155), as well as those who were aged ≥64 years (P=0.0444), which indicated that age was not associated with a difference in survival between the two groups. Therefore, pulmonary metastasectomy may improve the prognosis of patients with pulmonary metastases from bone and soft tissue sarcomas.