The role of pulmonary metastasectomy in soft tissue sarcoma.

Pulmonary metastases are common in patients with soft tissue sarcoma. The majority of patients who develop pulmonary metastases are asymptomatic and are diagnosed during routine follow-up visits. There is evidence to suggest that pulmonary metastasectomy is associated with improved overall survival but only in patients with complete surgical resection. There are several criterion to identify patients for resection. The majority of resectable patients have peripheral lesions that are amenable to wedge resection. There is little evidence to suggest that chemotherapy improves survival. Future research is needed to better identify patients for metastasectomy, to determine the role of minimally invasive procedures, and to develop better adjuvant therapy. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.