乳腺癌合并肺孤立性结节外科治疗的临床分析

为了探讨外科治疗在乳腺癌合并肺孤立性结节诊断及治疗中的作用,对13例乳腺癌根治术同期行肺孤立性结节手术切除的临床资料进行回顾性分析。结果:手术治疗的13例患者中,肺孤立性病灶的病理结果6例为原发性肺癌,5例为乳腺癌肺转移,2例为良性病变;手术方式:1998年以前患者采用小切口开胸手术(4例),之后的患者采用胸腔镜辅助小切口手术(9例)。术后并发症为皮下气肿和支气管胸膜瘘,无手术死亡。初步研究结果提示,乳腺癌合并的肺孤立性结节并不都是肺转移瘤,乳腺癌合并肺孤立性结节应该尽可能取得病理诊断,得到正确的治疗。     

CT引导Hookwire定位下电视胸腔镜手术对孤立性肺小结节的诊疗价值

背景与目的：临床检查发现,孤立性肺小结节(solitary pulmonary nodule,SPN)包含了相当一部分的早期肺癌。本研究探讨CT引导Hookwire定位下胸腔镜手术对于SPN的诊疗价值。方法：从2011年7月至2013年6月,复旦大学附属肿瘤医院胸外科收治的SPN患者310例,CT引导下留置Hookwire定位针,行胸腔镜(video assisted thoracic surgery,VATS)肺楔形切除,根据术中冰冻病理结果决定进一步治疗方式。统计定位准确率、并发症发生率、VATS 肺楔形切除手术成功率、中转开胸率以及SPN病理分型等。结果：Hookwire定位成功率为100%,咯血2例需要处理,术中Hookwire脱落12例(3.87%),VATS肺楔形切除手术成功率为99.0%,中转开胸3例。SPN术后组织学病理结果: 原发性肺癌237例,良性病变73例。结论：采用CT引导Hookwire定位下VATS手术的方法治疗微小SPN,诊断准确率高、疗效可靠,并发症少,具有很好的临床推广价值。     

The solitary pulmonary nodule in patients with previous cancer history: Results of surgical treatment

Background

The present study was carried out to evaluate the characteristics of solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) in patients with previous cancer(s) and to analyse the outcome of its surgical treatment.

Methods

We retrospectively analysed 131 patients with history of previous malignancy submitted to lung surgery for new identified SPN between January 2004 and December 2009.

Results

The diagnosis was metastasis in 65 patients, primary lung cancer in 57, benign lesion in 9. Primary lung cancers were significantly larger, had higher maxSUV at CT-PET scanning, occurred after a longer disease-free interval in patients older and with worse lung function when compared with metastatic lesions. Overall survival at 5-year was 67% for benign lesions, 62% for primary lung cancer, 48% for metastatic disease. Histological subtype, SPN diameter less than 2 cm and DFI >36 months were factors influencing long-term prognosis of metastatic patients. Histological subtype and pathological staging were factors influencing long-term outcome of primary lung cancer patients.

Discussion

Surgical resection of solitary pulmonary nodule is essential in patients with history of previous cancer to rule out benign lesions, to offer diagnostic confirmation and local control of the disease in metastatic tumours and to correctly stage and treat primary lung cancer.     

Implication of video assisted thoracoscopic surgery in the diagnosis of pulmonary metastasis of breast cancer

Purpose  To determine pulmonary metastasis, video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) was performed on the patients who had undergone breast cancer surgery. Patients and Methods p Nineteen patients with a history of breast cancer underwent VATS, because of subsequent abnormal pulmonary shadows on chest computed tomograms (CT). All patients were suspected to have pulmonary metastasis from breast cancer.   Results  The VATS procedure showed 10 (52%) patients to have pulmonary metastasis, but, 9 (48%) had primary lung cancers or benign lesions. In the patients of pulmonary metastasis, 7 had nodular lesions (5 had a single nodule and 2 had two nodules with a median diameter of 8.5 mm), and 3 patients had pleural dissemination. The follow-up period of the patients with pulmonary metastasis ranged from 3 to 28 months. Three patients died of brain metastasis and respiratory failure, 3 suffered recurrence and 4 were free from disease after VATS. Conclusion  VATS was useful for distinguishing small metastatic lesions from other diseases and a minimally invasive surgical approach in the follow-up of breast cancer patients suspected of pulmonary metastasis.     

21例乳腺癌术后孤立性肺转移的临床分析及预后

目的:探讨乳腺癌术后孤立肺转移的临床病理特点、治疗方法及预后因素。方法:自1999年1 月～2009年1 月,中国医学科学院肿瘤医院对35例乳腺癌术后孤立肺结节患者进行了手术治疗,对上述患者的临床特点、治疗方式、生存期及预后因素进行了单因素和多因素的分析。结果:乳腺癌手术至发现肺结节的时间为6～177 个月,中位时间48个月。经病理证实,乳腺癌肺转移21例（60.0%）,原发性肺癌8 例（22.9%）,良性病变6 例（17.1%）。 乳腺癌肺转移患者中,术后2、3、5 年的生存率分别为95.2%（20/21）、71.4%（15/21）、19.0%（4/21）。 从肺转移切除术至再次出现病情进展的中位时间（PFS）为32个月（3～73个月）;全组患者生存期为12～103 个月,中位时间43个月。经过单因素分析,影响乳腺癌肺转移术后至病情再次进展（PFS）的因素包括乳腺癌原发肿瘤大小、有无脉管瘤栓以及肺转移术后是否接受化疗（P<0.05）;而原发肿瘤至肺转移的时间（无瘤生存期,DFS）以及肺转移术后是否化疗与肺转移术后生存期（OS）有关（P<0.05）。 但经过多因素分析,上述因素对PFS 无显著关系。结论:乳腺癌术后孤立肺结节的外科治疗具有诊断和治疗的作用,术后全身治疗对提高无进展生存及总生存可能有一定的积极意义。      

CT引导下弹簧圈定位及X线透视下VATS切除亚厘米孤立性肺小结节的临床观察

目的 探讨CT引导下对直径小于10 mm孤立性肺部小结节（SPN）弹簧圈定位及同期X线透视下电视胸腔镜手术（VATS）切除的准确性及安全性。方法 回顾性分析2014年3月至2015年4月收治的53例亚厘米SPN患者,采用CT引导下弹簧圈定位及在X线透视下进行VATS精准切除。结果 53例患者亚厘米SPN经CT定位后均经VATS准确切除,切除成功率为100％。CT引导下定位后出现气胸4例,局部肺组织出血2例,气胸合并出血1例。SPN切除后病理显示,恶性病变21例,其中原位高分化腺癌16例、微侵袭腺癌 3例、转移癌2例;良性病变32例,其中慢性炎性肉芽肿12例、局灶性炎纤维化10例、不典型腺瘤样增生5例、硬化性血管瘤3例、肺错构瘤2例。术后肺部感染2例,经保守治疗治愈。术后住院时间3～7 d,平均住院时间为（4.11±1.03）d。结论 CT引导下弹簧圈定位和同期VATS切除是诊治亚厘米SPN较为准确和便捷的方法。     

计算机断层扫描三维重建联合带钩钢丝定位对ⅠA期肺癌的诊疗价值研究

目的探讨计算机断层扫描(CT)三维重建联合带钩钢丝(Hookwire)定位在ⅠA期肺癌诊疗中的应用效果。方法选取94例孤立性肺结节(SPN)患者作为研究对象,根据术后病理分为恶性SPN组(60例)和良性SPN组(34例)。记录并比较两组患者术前病灶影像学特征,记录患者电视胸腔镜手术(VATS)手术情况,包括手术时间、术中出血量、住院时间及Hookwire定位操作和VATS手术相关并发症。结果良恶性SPN病灶血管集束征、空泡征及左右肺分布比例比较,差异均无统计学意义(P﹥0.05)。恶性SPN边界不规则、毛刺征、分叶征、胸膜凹陷征、内部钙化灶和肺上叶比例均高于良性SPN病灶,差异均有统计学意义(P﹤0.05)。Hookwire定位针首次定位成功率为98.94%(93/94),二次定位成功率为100%。术中发现定位针脱落2例(2.13%),VATS楔形切除手术成功率为98.94%,1例因胸膜粘连严重转行微创开胸手术。VATS楔形切除手术时间为(20.75±8.22)min,术中出血量(26.58±9.43)ml,术后住院时间(5.45±2.16)d。定位操作和术后并发症发生率分别为17.02%(16/94)和4.26%(4/94)。结论CT三维重建联合Hookwire定位较好地解决了ⅠA期肺癌精准定位切除的问题,但也存在定位针脱落等风险,仍需进一步研究论证。     

The role of video-assisted thoracic surgery for pulmonary metastasectomy

Management of isolated metastatic deposits to the lungs and the role of surgical resection, specifically video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) techniques, have been controversial. The inability to perform a detailed bimanual palpation of the lung for occult lesions has been considered an inherent weakness in this approach. We have performed VATS resection for 205 patients with pulmonary metastatic disease and potentially curative VATS resec-tion for 119 patients. VATS resection was successfully performed for all VATS diagnostic and therapeutic patients, with no perioperative deaths. Longitudinal follow-up demonstrated a mean survival of 20 months in the diagnostic group and 32 months in the therapeutic group. In the VATS therapeutic group, 44 (37%) patients remain free of disease at a mean follow-up of 37 months. Of the 69 recurrences, 6% were local, 25% were regional, and 67% were distant. In this review, the present role of VATS pulmonary metastasectomy will be examined.     

Gamma probe-guided thoracoscopic surgery of small pulmonary nodules

Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is an interesting and emerging procedure for the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral pulmonary nodules. We developed a new radioguided surgical technique for the detection during VATS of pulmonary nodules smaller than 2 cm, situated deep in the lung parenchyma and neither visible nor palpable with endoscopic instruments. The procedure is divided into two phases. Two hours before surgery 0.3 ml of a solution composed of 0.2 mL of 99mTc-labeled human serum albumin microspheres (5-10 MBq) and 0.1 mL of non-ionic contrast is injected into the lesion under CT guidance. Then the patient is submitted to VATS. During thoracoscopy a collimated probe of 11 mm diameter connected to a gamma ray detector is introduced via an 11.5 mm trocar and the pleural surface of the suspected area is scanned. A hot spot indicates the presence of the radiolabeled nodule and hence the area to be resected. We treated 39 patients with small pulmonary nodules (mean size, 8.3 mm; range, 4-19 mm). The patients were 27 men and 12 women (mean age, 60.8 years; range, 13-80 years). Nineteen patients had a history of synchronous or metachronous malignancy. In all cases the nodule was detected and resected and the resection margins were pathologically free of tumor. Histological examination showed 21 benign and 18 malignant lesions (7 metastases and 11 primary lung cancers). Nine patients with a frozen section-based histopathological diagnosis of lung cancer without functional contraindications underwent a completion lobectomy by open surgery in the same surgical session. In conclusion, the radiolocalization of small pulmonary nodules by gamma probe during VATS is a safe and easy procedure, with fewer complications and a lower failure rate than other localization techniques.     

定位技术在电视胸腔镜诊治孤立性肺小结节中的应用

背景与目的电视胸腔镜已广泛应用于孤立性肺小结节(solitary pulmonary nodule,SPN)的诊治,但经常遇到术中无法准确定位病灶的情况。本研究探讨电视胸腔镜手术(video-assistant thoracoscopic surgery,VATS)在诊治孤立性肺小结节过程中的定位技术的临床应用价值。方法对孤立性肺小结节患者,术前先行三维CT定位,如SPN≤1.5 cm,或深达肺胸膜下2.0 cm,予行Hook-wire定位,术中先用器械间接触诊法,如失败改行电视胸腔镜辅助小切口(video-assisted minithoracotomy,VAMS),用手指直接触诊法定位,术中定位成功后,以直线切割缝合器行SPN楔形切除术,术后快速冰冻病理检查以决定下一步治疗方案。结果本组23例完成了胸腔镜SPN的切除,其中完全胸腔镜手术10例,VAMS 13例。结论电视胸腔镜SPN切除术术前术中的精确定位具有临床应用价值。     

Perioperative chemotherapy in patients undergoing pulmonary resection for metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma of the extremity : a retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND: The benefit of chemotherapy in the treatment of primary soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) is controversial. To the authors' knowledge, few studies to date have examined the effect of chemotherapy in patients undergoing pulmonary resection for metastatic STS of the extremity. METHODS: Between 1990 and 2005, 1897 patients with extremity STS were treated and prospectively followed at a single institution. In all, 508 patients (27%) developed lung metastases as the first site of distant recurrence, and 138 (7%) were treated with pulmonary resection. RESULTS: Perioperative chemotherapy was administered to 53 patients (38%). Age at diagnosis and disease-free interval were significantly different between patients who received perioperative chemotherapy and those who did not, whereas sex, grade, size of the primary tumor, depth, histology, number and size of lung metastases, and rate of complete resection were not. The median postmetastasis disease-specific survival was 24 months in patients who were treated with surgery and chemotherapy compared with 33 months in patients who were treated with surgery alone (P = .19). The median postmetastasis pulmonary progression-free survival in the 2 groups was 10 months and 11 months, respectively (P = .63). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards modeling and propensity score analysis revealed no association between perioperative chemotherapy and disease-specific, overall, or pulmonary progression-free survival. CONCLUSIONS: Although it is difficult to completely control for the effects of selection bias on outcome in this highly selected cohort of patients, data from the current study suggest that systemic chemotherapy has minimal, if any, long-term impact on the outcome of patients undergoing pulmonary resection for metastatic STS of the extremity.     

The role of thoracoscopy in the management of lung cancer

The use of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has allowed surgeons to perform complex procedures that previously required a thoracotomy. While VATS is well accepted in the management of benign thoracic disease, its role in the management of lung cancer continues to evolve. VATS is utilized in many aspects of the management of lung cancer including the evaluation of indeterminate pulmonary nodules and pleural effusions, staging of mediastinal lymph nodes, and the resection of primary and metastatic tumors. However, concerns regarding cost, training issues, and adherence to oncological principles have caused some surgeons to proceed more slowly. This review discusses the current role of thoracoscopy in the management of lung cancer.     

乳腺与肺双原发性癌的临床病理特征分析

目的:探讨乳腺癌合并原发性肺癌患者的临床病理特征及同时手术的安全性。方法:回顾性收集1999 年1月至2017年12月中国医学科学院肿瘤医院收治的乳腺癌合并肺癌患者共计94例,经病例筛选后共71例纳入本研究,对纳入研究的双原发性癌患者临床病理特点进行分析。结果:71例患者中,乳腺癌作为首发癌合并肺癌 63例,肺癌作为首发癌合并乳腺癌 8例,两组患者在乳腺肿瘤大小、淋巴结转移数目、临床分期、病理类型、ER表达、Ki-67指数、HER-2表达、手术方式及有无放化疗史方面的差异均无统计学意义（均P>0.05）,但乳腺癌首发组患者无进展生存期优于肺癌首发组（P<0.05）。在同时性双原发性癌 28 例中,6 例患者（21.4%）同时接受乳腺癌及肺癌手术,围手术期无并发症发生,术后病情平稳。以乳腺癌作为首发癌的41例异时性双原发性癌中,中位间隔为57.3个月,肺结节平均观察时间为10个月。肺癌临床分期Ⅰ期以下占82.9%,病理类型中93%为腺癌。发现肺结节的早晚与乳腺癌术后复查及随访有关。结论:乳腺癌首发的双原发性癌患者预后较好;同时手术治疗乳腺癌及肺癌是安全可行的;在异时性双原发性癌中,肺癌一般是在乳腺癌术后 5 年内发现的,乳腺癌术后规律及时的随访有助于肺癌早期发现。     

Pulmonary Lobectomy Combined with Pulmonary Arterioplasty by Complete Video-assisted Thoracic Surgery in Patients with Lung Cancer

Objective: To explore the feasibility of pulmonary lobectomy combined with pulmonary arterioplasty bycomplete video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) in patients with lung cancer, and summarize its surgical methods.Materials and Methods: Twenty-one patients with lung cancer in Beijing Chest Hospital Affiliated to CapitalMedical University from Feb., 2010 to Jun., 2013 were selected, males and females accounting for 15 and 6 cases,respectively. Ten underwent right upper lobectomy, 5 right lower lobectomy, 4 left upper lobectomy (in whichleft upper sleeve lobectomy was conducted for 2) and 2 left lower lobectomy. At the same time, local resectionof pulmonary arterioplasty was performed for 12 patients, and sleeve resection of pulmonary arterioplasty for9. Results: Twenty-one patients recovered well after surgery. Thoracic drainage tube was maintained for 3-8days, with an average of 4.9 days, and hospital stays were 8-15 days, with an average of 11 days. There wereno deaths in the perioperative period, and the complications like pulmonary embolism, bronchopleural fistula,chest infection and pulmonary atelectasis did not occur after surgery. Conclusions: Performance of pulmonarylobectomy and pulmonary arterioplasty together by complete VATS is a safe and effective surgical method, whichcan expand the indications of patients with lung cancer undergoing thoracoscopic pulmonary lobectomy, andmake more patients profit from such minimally invasive treatment.     

胸腔镜治疗肺部微小结节（129例报告）

背景与目的影像技术的发展导致肺部微小结节尤其是肺磨玻璃结节（ground-glass opacity, GGO）检出逐年增多,但术前定性困难。本研究探讨肺部微小结节的临床诊断及微创手术治疗的必要性和可行性、病理诊断,微创切除及淋巴结切除的手术方式。方法对2013年12月-2016年11月接受电视胸腔镜手术（video-assisted thoracic surgery, VATS）治疗并有明确病理诊断的共129例患者的临床资料回顾性分析。所有患者术前行薄层计算机断层扫描（computed tomography, CT）扫描,其中21个微小结节术前行CT引导下Hook-wire定位,并根据病理性质及患者身体状况采用不同手术方式。结果共129个微小结节,实性结节（solid pulmonary nodule, SPN）37个,恶性比例是24.3%（9/37）,术后病理结果为：肺原发性鳞状细胞癌3个,浸润性腺癌（invasive adenocarcioma, IA）3个,转移癌2个,小细胞肺癌（small cell lung cancer, SCLC）1个,错构瘤16个,其他炎症等良性病变12个;49个混合性GGO（mixed ground-glass opacity, mGGO）的恶性比例是63.3%（31/49）,术后病理结果为：IA 19个,微浸润腺癌（micro invasive adenocarcioma, MIA）6个,原位腺癌（adenocarcioma in situ, AIS）4个,非典型性腺瘤样增生（atipical adenomatous hyperplasia, AAH）1个,SCLC 1个,炎症等良性病变18个;43个纯GGO（pure ground-glass opacity, pGGO）的恶性比例是86.0%（37/43）,术后病理结果为：AIS 19个,MIA 6个,IA 6个,AAH 6个,炎症等良性病变6个;GGO总的恶性比例是73.9%（68/92）。52个良性病变均采用VATS肺楔形切除;原发性非小细胞肺癌（non-small cell lung cancer, NSCLC）共73例,VATS肺叶切除和淋巴结清扫33例,VATS肺楔形切除和选择性淋巴结切除6例,VATS肺段切除和选择性淋巴结切除6例,VATS肺楔形切除28例;2个转移癌和2个SCLC,采用VATS肺楔形切除术。另有6例患者术中冰冻病理存在误差,其中2例选择二次手术行肺叶切除和淋巴结清扫。45例有淋巴结病理结果NSCLC只有两例以SPN为表现的IA出现纵隔淋巴结转移,其余均未出现淋巴结转移。术后随访1个月-35个月,平均（15.1±10.2）个月,无复发及转移。结论肺部微小结节尤其是GGO,是恶性病灶的概率大,应积极外科处理;围手术期应与患者及家属充分告知冰冻病理结果存在误差可能性,避免医疗纠纷。     

电视胸腔镜辅助肺叶切除治疗Ⅰ／Ⅱ期肺癌临床应用

目的探讨电视胸腔镜辅助小切口肺叶切除、淋巴结清扫治疗早期非小细胞肺癌的临床疗效和价值。方法总结我院2003年11月至2008年4月应用电视胸腔镜辅助小切口对37例Ⅰ／Ⅱ期肺癌根治性手术治疗。观察手术类型、并发症、术后病理分期、生存率。结果全组2例中转开胸,无围手术期死亡,术后病理分期Ⅰ期30例,Ⅱ期5例,术后3年生存率为85．7％。结论胸腔镜辅助小切口肺叶切除根治术治疗早期非小细胞肺癌是可行、安全的,更具有创伤小、康复快、美观的优点。     

Surgery of the primary tumor does not improve survival in stage IV breast cancer

We sought to evaluate the survival of patients who received breast surgery prior to any other breast cancer therapy following a metastatic diagnosis. Standard treatment for stage IV breast cancer is systemic therapy without resection of the primary tumor. Registry-based studies suggest that resection of the primary tumor may improve survival in stage IV cancer. We performed a retrospective analysis using data from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Breast Cancer Outcomes Database. Patients were eligible if they had a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis at presentation with disease at a distant site and either received surgery prior to any systemic therapy or received systemic therapy only. Eligible patients who did not receive surgery were matched to those who received surgery based on age at diagnosis, ER, HER2, and number of metastatic sites. To determine whether estimates from the matched analysis were consistent with estimates that could be obtained without matching univariate and multivariable analyses of the unmatched sample were also conducted. There were 1,048 patients in the NCCN database diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer from 1997 to 2007. 609 metastatic breast cancer patients were identified as eligible for the study. Among the 551 patients who had data available for matching, 236 patients who did not receive surgery were matched to 54 patients who received surgery. Survival was similar between the groups with a median of 3.4 years in the nonsurgery group and 3.5 years in the surgery group. The groups were similar after adjusting for the presence of lung metastases and use of trastuzumab therapy (HR=0.94, CI 0.83-1.08, P=0.38). When matching for the variables associated with a survival benefit in previous studies, surgery was not shown to improve survival in the stage IV setting for this subset.     

电视胸腔镜诊治恶性胸腔积液18例报告

[目的]评价电视胸腔镜手术（VATS）在恶性胸腔积液诊治中的应用价值,［方法］18例恶性胸腔积液患者行胸腔镜胸膜活检和滑石粉胸膜固定术,术后加低负压胸腔引流。［结果］18例均获病理确诊,其中恶性胸膜间皮瘤2例,乳腺癌胸膜转移6例,肺癌胸膜转移8例,卵巢癌和胃癌胸膜转移各1例。胸膜固定成功16例;失败2例,其原因为肺癌伴有肺不张。［结论］VATS可以大大提高恶性胸腔积液的确诊率和胸膜固定术的效果,术后低负压胸腔引流有利于胸腔粘连形成,缩短引流时间。     

Clinical features of surgical resection for pulmonary metastasis from breast cancer

Background and objectives

Metastatic breast cancer has been defined as a systemic disease. The discussion concerning the resection of lung metastases in patients with breast cancer is controversial. To confirm the role of resection of pulmonary metastases from breast cancer and to identify possible prognostic factors, we reviewed our institutional experience.

Methods

Between 1991 and 2007, 41 patients with pulmonary metastases from breast cancers underwent complete pulmonary resection. All patients had obtained or had obtainable locoregional control of their primary tumors. Various perioperative variables were investigated retrospectively to confirm the role of metastasectomy and to analyze prognostic factors for overall survival after metastasectomy.

Results

All patients were female with a median age of 55 years (range, 35–81 years). The overall survival rate after metastasectomy was 51% at 5 and 10 years. On multivariate analysis, fewer than four pulmonary metastases and a disease-free interval of more than 3 years were significantly favorable prognostic factors for overall survival (p = 0.023 and 0.024, respectively).

Conclusions

The current practice of pulmonary metastasectomy for breast cancers in our institution was well justified. Pulmonary metastasectomy in patients with previous breast cancer might be justified when fewer than four pulmonary metastases or a disease-free interval of more than 3 years.     

Disease-free survival after resection of lung metastases in patients with breast cancer.

AIMS: Metastatic breast cancer is a systemic disease. The discussion concerning the resection of lung metastases in patients with breast cancer is controversial. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 25 patients with suspected pulmonary metastases operated between March 1989 and September 1998. Survival probabilities and disease-free survival was analysed using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. RESULTS: The median survival rate after resection of lung metastases for the 21 patients was 96.9 months. The disease-free survival (DFS) after resection of lung metastases was 27.6 months. Survival was not influenced by the receptor status, lymph node involvement, number of lung metastases (p=0.8) or the disease-free interval (DFI) (0.59). DFS was, however, influenced by the DFI. With a DFI of <2 years survival was 8.5 months, whereas with a DFI >2 years it was 36.1 months (p=0.012). The DFS was influenced, but not statistically significant, by the number of lung metastases (n=1/n>1). The median DFS was 28.8 months with one metastasis and 13.1 months with multiple metastases (p=0.29). CONCLUSIONS: The indication to remove solitary lung metastases in patients with previous breast cancer is supported by these findings. Especially when the disease-free interval is greater than two years.