The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 39, 257-259, Copyright © 1985 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Resection of pulmonary metastatic choriocarcinoma in 43 drug-resistant patients
LT Xu, CF Sun, YE Wang and HZ Song
A regimen of multiple intermittent intensive doses of chemotherapy (chiefly
5-fluorouracil) was used in a series of 806 women with choriocarcinoma and
malignant mole. The rate of complete remission of choriocarcinoma was
78.6%, and approximately 85% of the patients survived for more than 5
years. From 1962 through 1982, pulmonary metastatic choriocarcinoma was
found to be resistant to chemotherapeutic agents in 43 of these patients;
they subsequently underwent lung resection. There were no postoperative
deaths, and the 5- year survival was 50%. These are relatively good results
for patients with long-standing and widely disseminated choriocarcinoma.
Human chorionic gonadotropin titer in urine and blood and variations of
lung shadows are important criteria in selecting candidates for lung
resection. For preservation of lung function, simple lobectomy is the first
choice. Better long-term survival was obtained in patients who had a
solitary lung lesion on admission without other major organ metastases and
in those in whom the lung lesion was well encapsulated and became necrotic
after chemotherapy.
