A prospective comparison of growth patterns with radiomorphology in 232 lung metastases-basis for patient tailored resection planning?

Background: The histologic presence of aggressive local growth of pulmonary metastases is associated with an increased risk for local intrapulmonary recurrence after enucleation or wedge resection. Patient tailored resection planning is possible when morphologic pattern of aggressive growth could be identified based on preoperative CT scans.

Methods: Radiomorphology and microscopic growth characteristics from 232 pulmonary metastases from 87 patients were prospectively compared for the presence or absence of aggressive patterns of local intrapulmonary dissemination.

Growth patterns of pulmonary metastases: should we adjust resection techniques to primary histology and size?

Objectives: Safety margins in pulmonary metastasectomy are not yet well defined. We hypothesize that histological subtype, size of the lesion and local growth characteristics must be taken into consideration during metastasectomy. This study was conducted to examine and classify growth patterns at resection margins and define the relationships between aggressive local growth, metastasis size and local recurrence to direct metastasectomy.