Background: Because carcinomatous lymphangitis and carcinomatous pleuritis are the usual forms of metastasis associated with gastric cancer, resection of solitary pulmonary metastases arising from gastric cancer is rarely performed. To clarify the characteristics of pulmonary metastases from gastric cancer, we investigated patients who underwent resection of metastatic solitary lung tumors arising from gastric cancer.
Methods: Between October 2003 and October 2012, 10 patients underwent pulmonary metastasectomy for metastatic gastric cancer at our institution. We retrospectively evaluated features of the primary gastric cancer and the clinicopathological features of the pulmonary metastases in these cases.
Results: 70% of the patients had stage II disease. Lymphatic invasion was observed in all cases of primary gastric cancer. The method of pulmonary resection was partial resection in 5 cases, segmentectomy in 1, and lobectomy in 4. On histopathological examination, immunohistochemical staining was negative for thyroid transcription factor-1 and napsin A in all cases. Patients who underwent resection of pulmonary metastases arising from gastric cancer had a good prognosis: the 4-year survival rate was 75%.
Conclusions: Carefully chosen patients have a good opportunity to obtain benefits from resection of pulmonary metastases arising from gastric cancer.
Keywords: Lung neoplasms; lymphatic metastasis; pneumonectomy; prognosis; stomach neoplasms.
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