[Surgical treatment of metastatic lung tumors]

Surgical treatments were performed in 88 cases of metastatic lung tumors, where 5 years survival rate in all resected cases was 37.5%. We report our principles on the surgical treatment for metastatic lung tumors. First of all, the biological characteristics of the primary lesion is among the most important factors in considering the indication for the surgical treatment in metastatic lung tumors. For example, chemotherapy must be the first choice in treating lung metastasis of choriocarcinoma, and hormone therapy in lung metastasis of mammary carcinoma. On the other hand, such tumors as osteogenic sarcoma, soft tissue sarcoma, colorectal carcinoma and Grawitz's tumor, should be treated by surgery. Another point in the surgery of the metastatic lung tumor is the choice of the mode of operation for the solitary metastatic tumor according to tumor type. As a principle, partial or segmental resection is preferably chosen for metastatic lung tumor. However, the location of the lung tumor, tumor size, hilar lymph node metastasis and the pattern of invasion to the surrounding lung tissue must be considered to decide the surgical procedure. From these considerations, the segmental or partial resection for metastatic sarcomas and the lobectomy for the metastatic carcinomas are appropriate in general.