Pulmonary metastasectomy from renal cell carcinoma including 3 cases with sarcomatoid component

Introduction Usefulness of complete metastasectomy against pulmonary metastases from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is well known. We examined the efficacy of surgical resection of pulmonary metastases from RCC performed in Shikoku Cancer Center. Method Between January 2004 and December 2014, 11 patients with pulmonary metastases from RCC underwent thoracic resection in our institution. We examined disease-free interval (DFI) and overall survival of these patients after pulmonary metastasectomy. Results Patients included 9 men and 2 women with a mean age of 63.2 years. The median number of metastases was 1 (range 1-6). Overall, 5 patients had a single metastasis (45.5 %), 8 patients had unilateral metastases (72.7 %), and 3 patients received immunotherapy or chemotherapy in the interval between radical nephrectomy and pulmonary metastasectomy. We performed complete pulmonary metastasectomy in these patients. The median observation period was 43 months (range 5-82), median DFI was 5 months (range 2-17), and 3-year overall survival rate was 86 %. In the 3 patients who had primary or metastatic tumors with sarcomatoid (SA) component, their median DFI tended to be shorter than that of 8 patients without it (2 vs. 8 months, p = 0.07). Conclusion The pulmonary metastasectomy for RCC is a treatment option, while the indication for RCC with SA component should be carefully considered.