Surgical management of metastases to the lung

Our experience with 234 patients having resection of metastatic lesions of lung is reviewed. Most bilateral lung metastases were removed though a median sternotomy. Exploration of the contralateral lung with simultaneous removal of all lesions is possible through such an incision, and moreover, it appears to give less pain postoperatively. The over-all median survival time of the patients was 21.4 months, with a surgical mortality of 2.6 per cent. The therapeutic results were analyzed according to various factors. Incomplete resection and the presence of a positive hilar mediastinal node, or both, resulted in poor survival rate of the patients. Generally, the survival rates of the patients were found to be proportional to the disease-free interval and the tumor doubling time. Patients with a solitary lesion and those with two lesions removed had the best survival time. There was no difference in the survival rates of patients with unilateral and bilateral pulmonary multiple metastases. Treatment of metastases to the lung should be carefully planned in consultation with physicians who are acquainted with the natural history of the primary tumor, as lung resection is a part of the multimodal therapy of patients with solid tumor.