Abstract
For the treatment of metastatic melanoma, chemotherapy and immunotherapy are commonly used, but the long term prognosis is generally unfavorable, because of the low sensitivity of tumor cells to such therapies. However, 18 patients with lung metastases from cutaneous malignant melanoma who were surgically treated in our institute experienced generally favorable outcomes. We report the details of these 18 cases and discuss the most appropriate therapy. Between 1984 and 2003, 18 patients underwent surgery for lung metastases from cutaneous malignant melanoma. Their clinical features were examined and compared with those in patients with only lung metastases who did not undergo surgery. The median disease-free interval of patients with surgical treatment was longer than that of patients without surgical treatment. Patients with lung metastases only, less than 4 metastatic foci and disease free intervals of more than 12 months after initial treatment were found to be good candidates for surgical treatment for lung metastases, even though metastatic foci were found in both lungs. Watchful waiting for the evaluation of tumor growth for 3 months is another option when deciding on the employment of surgical treatment for lung metastases.
