Long-term survival after report resection of pulmonary metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma: report of two cases.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is often treated most effectively by resection. Although improved surgical procedures and perioperative care have made hepatic resection safe, the prognosis of patients with HCC is still poor because of the high incidence of postoperative recurrence. The most common site of extrahepatic recurrence is the lung. However, because of its multiplicity and concurrent recurrence in the liver remnant, resection of pulmonary metastases form HCC is rarely beneficial. We report two cases of long-term survival after repeated pulmonary resection of metastasis from HCC. At the time of this report the two patients were free of disease, 110 months and 107 months, respectively, after their initial hepatectomy. These case reports show that pulmonary metastases from HCC can be successfully resected in selected patients.