Metastatic tumor doubling time is an independent predictor of intrapulmonary recurrence after pulmonary resection of solitary pulmonary metastasis from colorectal cancer

Background: Several investigators have previously reported the prognostic factors affecting survival after a surgical resection of pulmonary metastasis from colorectal cancer (CRC). However, there have so far been no reports describing prognostic factors related to the tumor doubling time (TDT) of pulmonary metastasis. Methods: 65 patients with solitary pulmonary metastasis from CRC were retrospectively reviewed and the prognostic factors after pulmonary resection including TDT were analyzed. Results: The 5-year intrapulmonary recurrence-free survival rates after pulmonary resection was 59.9%. The TDT of pulmonary metastasis (<100 vs. 100 days or higher) was only a significant prognostic factor in intrapulmonary recurrence after the pulmonary resection (p = 0.0006). The 5-year overall survival rate after the pulmonary resection was 64.2%. Preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level (<5 vs. 5 ng/ml or higher) was the only significant prognostic factor in overall survival after the pulmonary resection (p = 0.0049). The overall survival of patients whose TDT was 100 days or higher tended to be better than that of patients whose TDT was <100 (p = 0.0631). Conclusions: The TDT of solitary pulmonary metastasis is a significant prognostic factor after surgery for solitary pulmonary metastasis from CRC. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.