The benefits of surgery in the treatment of pelvic metastases.

This retrospective study analyses the benefit of surgery to patients with pelvic metastases. Forty-three patients were operated on between 1980 and 1992, 37 having intralesional and 6 extralesional resections. Thirty-nine had perioperative adjuvant therapy. Survival time was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Clinical evaluation used the Karnofsky performance status which showed improvement from 55% before operation to 74% at 3 months (p = 0.0001) and 77% after 6 months (p = 0.0001). Those having an intralesional resection had a median survival time of 13 months, a complication rate of 24% and a local recurrence rate of 19%. The comparable figures for those with extralesional resection were 16 months survival, complications in 3 out of 6, and no local recurrences. The quality of life was improved by operation and intralesional resection is preferable in most of these patients.