Surgical treatment of lung metastases of head and neck tumors

Head and neck tumors often spread to the lungs, with a variety of presentations. The ideal treatment for those patients is still controversial. Resection of lung metastases was shown to significantly influence overall survival of patients. To evaluate results of surgical resection of lung nodules in patients with head and neck primary tumors. A retrospective analysis was made of 53 patients with head and neck tumors and lung nodules (no other metastases detected in other organs) admitted to our department. They were separated into two groups: OPER (thoracotomy, n = 26), and NOTOPER (no thoracotomies, n = 27). Overall survival was compared (Kaplan-Meier, log-rank) between groups. Overall median survival of all patients was 10 months, of OPER 20 months, and of NOTOPER 6 months ( P