Surgery for pulmonary metastases from colorectal cancer

Abstract

Before thoracotomy for pulmonary metastases from colorectal cancer, the serum CEA level was the most useful prognostic factor. Patients with elevated serum CEA level should undergo a careful prethoracotomy systemic survey and postthoracotomy follow-up for extrathoracic metastases, in particular brain metastases, and an appropriate combined therapeutic modality should be considered.

Metastatic Tumor Doubling Time Is an Independent Predictor of Intrapulmonary Recurrence after Pulmonary Resection of Solitary Pulmonary Metastasis from Colorectal Cancer

“…In addition, the present result is supported by previous reports of the prognosis in patients with pulmonary metastasis from CRC by several investigators [3, 7, 8]. One study showed that patients with a high level of prethoracotomy serum CEA had a more frequent recurrence in extrathoracic sites, especially the brain [11]. …”

“…Surgical resection for pulmonary metastasis is an effective treatment for patients with pulmonary metastasis from CRC, and previous studies have suggested several prognostic factors affecting survival after a resection of pulmonary metastasis from CRC [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. However, there are discrepancies between the results of these studies.…”

“…Prolonged survival after surgery for pulmonary metastases from CRC has been documented, with the 5-year survival ranging from 10 to 50% [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. However, the main cause of death after pulmonary resection from CRC is tumor recurrence, which involves the lung in approximately 50% of cases [5].…”

“…Therefore, the identification of preoperative factors predicting both overall survival and the likelihood of intrapulmonary recurrence in patients who undergo surgery for pulmonary metastases from CRC is important. A number of prognostic factors affecting survival after a surgical resection of pulmonary metastasis from CRC have been reported by many investigators, including the number of metastatic lesions, maximum tumor size, interval between primary surgery and the thoracotomy, stage of primary tumor, the presence of hilar or mediastinal lymph node metastases and the prethoracotomy serum CEA level [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. However, the survival in relation to the prognostic factors varied among the institutions, and it remains unclear as to which factors are the best indicators for a surgical resection.…”

Circulating Tumor Cells as a Potential Biomarker in Selecting Patients for Pulmonary Metastasectomy from Colorectal Cancer:Report of a Case

“…In addition, the present case had a normal serum CEA level, solitary pulmonary metastasis and no intrathoracic nodal metastasis, which are favorable prognostic factors revealed in previous studies [9, 10, 11]. Thus, the only factor to predict a poor prognosis in the case was her elevated CTC count (6 CTCs/7.5 ml peripheral blood), which was consistent with a study showing that an elevated CTC count (3 or more CTCs/7.5 ml) was an independent and significant prognostic factor for shorter survival [7].…”