Twelve-year "cure" of lung cancer with metastasis to the brain.

In managing lung cancer with metastasis to the brain, the clinician must decide whether to treat the primary lesion, the metastasis, neither, or both. A patient enjoying a useful survival of five years or more following treatment may be regarded as apparently cured. This patient was functioning normally twelve years after surgical treatment of the brain and lung lesions. Lung cancer with metastasis to the brain is not always a hopeless situation; occasionally a patient will derive great benefit from treatment.