Pulmonary resection in the management of metastases from gestational choriocarcinoma

Case histories of five patients with pulmonary metastases from choriocarcinoma resistant to multidrug chemotherapy are presented. Thoracotomy was performed in all cases. All tumor was removed in three patients with no other site of active disease, and these patients are surviving with no evidence of recurrent disease. In one patient, the lesion could not be completely excised because of involvement of contiguous structures, and she died of progressive disease. A second patient, with liver metastases at the time of thoracotomy, also died of progressive disease. The indications for performing thoracotomy in the management of pulmonary metastases of choriocarcinoma are discussed.