Current Surgical Approach to Pulmonary Metastasectomy

The lung is a common site of metastases for children and adolescents with a wide variety of solid tumors. The role for pulmonary metastasectomy is dictated by tumor histology and can serve either therapeutic or diagnostic purposes. Careful surgical planning is required to determine the optimal surgical approach and to ensure successful nodule localization. While high level data are limited, in appropriate situations pulmonary metastasectomy can confirm staging, guide therapy, improve survival, and reduce the need for other therapy escalations.