Prediction of the prognosis and surgical indications for pulmonary metastectomy from colorectal carcinoma in patients with combined hepatic metastases

Background: The value of surgical treatment for patients with pulmonary and hepatic metastases from colorectal carcinoma is controversial. The purpose of this study was to analyze our initial experience with this aggressive strategy, and to define the prognosis and the surgical indications. Methods: The records of 35 patients who underwent surgical treatments for both hepatic and pulmonary metastases from colorectal carcinoma, from January 1997 to December 2008, were retrospectively analyzed. Results: There were 18 females and 17 males with a median age was 62.0 years. The primary colorectal neoplasm was located at the colon in 23 patients (65.7%) and in the rectum in 12 patients (34.3%). The overall 5-year and 10-year survival rates were 65.3% and 31.5% from the date of primary colorectal resection, respectively. For patients who underwent metachronous hepatic and pulmonary surgical treatment, the 10-year survival rate was 40.9%, which was significantly better than that of those undergoing synchronous hepatic and pulmonary surgical treatment (p= 0.0265). Patients who have pulmonary less than ten of metastasis thus seemed to have a better prognosis than those with more than ten, but the difference was quite significant (p= 0.0719). In a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model, synchronous hepatic and pulmonary metastases was identified as an independent predictor of adverse survival (p= 0.0073). Conclusions: The results of our study suggest that hepatic and pulmonary surgical treatment can provide a better prognosis for patients with metachronous hepatic and pulmonary metastases from colorectal carcinoma. We believe that aggressive metastasectomy can be an option for selected patients, even if a patient has been previously treated for hepatic and pulmonary metastases from colorectal carcinoma.