The Role of Lung Metastasis Resection in Improving Outcome of Colorectal Cancer Patients: Results From a Large Retrospective Study

Background. The role of surgery for lung metastases (LM) secondary to colorectal cancer (CRC) remains controversial.Thebulkofevidenceisderivedfromsinglesurgicalseries, hampering any definitive conclusions. The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of CRC patients with LM submitted to surgery with those who were not. PatientsandMethods.Datafrom409patientswithLMas the first evidence of advanced disease were extracted from a database of 1,411 patients. Patients were divided into three groups: G1, comprised 155 patients with pulmonary and extrapulmonary metastases; G2, comprised of 104 patients with LM only and no surgery; G3, comprised of 50 patients with LM only and submitted to surgery. Results. No difference in response rates emerged between G1 and G2. Median progression-free survival (PFS) times were: 10.3 months, 10.5 months, and 26.2 months for G1, G2, and G3, respectively. No difference in PFS times wasobservedbetweenG1andG2,whereastherewasasta