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Ann Thorac Surg 2009;88:856-860. doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2009.04.040
© 2009 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Original Articles: General Thoracic
Pulmonary Metastasectomy for Pulmonary Metastases of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas
Satoshi Shiono, MDa,*,
Masafumi Kawamura, MDb,
Toru Sato, MDa,
Sakae Okumura, MDc,
Jun Nakajima, MDd,
Ichiro Yoshino, MDe,
Norihiko Ikeda, MDf,
Hirotoshi Horio, MDg,
Hirohiko Akiyama, MDh,
Koichi Kobayashi, MDb, Metastatic Lung Tumor Study Group of Japan
a Department of Thoracic Surgery, Yamagata Prefectural Central Hospital, Yamagata, Japan
b Department of Thoracic Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
c Department of Chest Surgery, Cancer Institute Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
d Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
e Department of Thoracic Surgery, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
f Department of First Surgery, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
g Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
h Department of Thoracic Surgery, Saitama Cancer Center, Saitama, Japan
Accepted for publication April 14, 2009.
* Address correspondence to Dr Shiono, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Yamagata Prefectural Central Hospital, 1800, Oazaaoyagi, Yamagata, 990-2292, Japan (Email: sshiono{at}ypch.gr.jp).
| GENERAL THORACIC SURGERY:
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Abstract
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Background: The lung is the major organ for distant metastasis from head and neck cancers, and pulmonary metastasectomy is indicated for selected cases. The efficacy of surgical treatment for pulmonary metastatic lesions from head and neck cancers has not been thoroughly examined.
Methods: The database developed by the Metastatic Lung Tumor Study Group of Japan was retrospectively reviewed. Between November 1980 and September 2006, 237 patients underwent resection of pulmonary metastases from primary head and neck cancers. After excluding nonsquamous cell carcinomas, 114 cases were analyzed, and the survival and prognostic factors for pulmonary metastasectomy for metastases from head and neck cancers were determined.
Results: The overall 5-year survival rate after pulmonary metastasectomy was 26.5%, and the median survival time was 26 months. As determined by univariate analysis, poor prognostic factors were oral cavity cancers, lymph node metastasis, a disease-free interval of 24 months or less, and incomplete resection. Multivariate analysis revealed that poor prognostic factors were being male, having oral cavity cancers, lymph node metastasis, and incomplete resection. When patients were divided into males with oral cavity cancers (n = 17) and all others (n = 97), the 5-year survival rates were 0% and 31.6%, respectively. Survival of male patients with oral cavity cancer that metastasized was significantly reduced (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: Male sex, oral cavity cancers, lymph node metastasis, and incomplete resection were poor prognostic factors for pulmonary metastases, but there is the potential for a good surgical outcome in carefully selected patients.
The lung is the major organ of distant metastasis from head and neck cancers [1, 2]. Although surgical resection is an important treatment for pulmonary metastasis [3–5], pulmonary metastasis is commonly considered to reflect systemic disease, and the prognosis for pulmonary metastasis from head and neck cancers remains poor. The incidence of pulmonary metastasis from head and neck cancers is reported to range from 6.0% to 9.1% [6, 7]. With regard to pulmonary metastasectomy, Wedman and colleagues [6] reported a 5-year survival rate of 59% in a pulmonary metastasectomy group, but only 4% in a nonmetastasectomy group. Although Yamagata and associates [7] reported that docetaxel-based chemotherapy had a better response rate for pulmonary metastases than non–docetaxel-based chemotherapy, the role of chemotherapy seems to be limited.
The survival rate after surgery for pulmonary metastases from head and neck cancers is reported to range from 29.0% to 59.4% [6, 8–10]. However, owing to the small number of previous studies, prognosis after surgery for pulmonary metastases from head and neck cancers has not been thoroughly examined. The 2006 annual report by the Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery documents 4,912 patients who underwent pulmonary metastasectomy, among whom were 260 patients (5.3%) with head and neck cancers [11]. The number of cases of pulmonary metastasectomy for head and neck cancers in a single institution is limited; therefore, we retrospectively reviewed cases registered in the database of the Metastatic Lung Tumor Study Group of Japan of patients who underwent surgical treatment for pulmonary metastases from head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. From this, we identified prognostic factors for patients who underwent pulmonary metastasectomy. Furthermore, we identified the surgical indications for pulmonary metastasis from head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.
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Patients and Methods
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The Metastatic Lung Tumor Study Group of Japan developed a database for registration of lung metastasis cases of patients undergoing surgical resection. It documents the following: sex, age, primary tumor histopathology, stage of the primary tumor, treatment for the primary tumor, date of primary surgery, type of surgery, curability, date of metastasis, disease-free interval (DFI), side, size, number of resected metastases, date of metastasectomy, relapsed sites, and follow-up. The DFI was calculated from the date of the initial treatment for the primary cancer to the date of diagnosis of pulmonary metastasis. Between March 1984 and September 2006, 237 patients who underwent resection of pulmonary metastases from head and neck cancers were enrolled in the database. The endpoint of our retrospective study was survival after pulmonary metastasectomy. The Ethics Committees of the affiliated institutions approved this database study and waived the need for informed consent from patients as long as patient data remained anonymous.
Of the 237 patients with pulmonary metastases, 98 patients had nonsquamous cell carcinoma. Because nonsquamous cell carcinomas have various histological types and better survival, cases with lung metastasis from nonsquamous cell carcinoma were excluded from analysis [6, 10]. In addition, because pulmonary metastases from oral cavity cancers are reported to have a poor prognosis [8], special emphasis was placed on investigating the differences between oral cavity and non–oral cavity cancers. Twenty-five cases were excluded because of incomplete data, including the number of resected metastases, age, DFI, or prognosis. A central review of the pathologic specimens was not carried out by our study group. The data from the remaining 114 patients were retrospectively reviewed. Preoperative examination, surgical indication, operative procedure, and postoperative treatment were at the discretion of the institution where the patient was treated. The surgical procedure depended on the location, size, or number of metastases. Lymph node dissection was not routinely performed and depended on the institution. As previously reported [12], general indications for surgical resection of pulmonary metastasis followed the criteria of Thomford and coworkers [13]: the primary lesion was under control or was planned to be under control; there were no metastases to other organs; and the patient's general condition was good enough to withstand surgery.
Statistical Analysis
Overall survival was analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method, and differences in variables were calculated by the log-rank test. The date of pulmonary resection was defined as the starting point. The Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used for multivariable analysis. The data were calculated using version 5.0 of the StatView software package (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). Values of p less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
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Results
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Patient characteristics and the primary site locations of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas are listed in Table 1. The TNM stages for head and neck primary cancers were not recorded in detail. The patients' mean age at the time of pulmonary metastasectomy was 63 years (range, 26 to 81). The mean tumor size was 3.3 cm (range, 0.7 to 11 cm). The median number of resected metastatic lesions per patient was 1 lesion (range, 1 to 6). The median DFI was 16 months (range, 0 to 87). The median follow-up time from the time of metastasectomy was 120 months.
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Table 1 Characteristics of Patients Undergoing Surgery for Pulmonary Metastases From Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas
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One patient died of pneumonia during the perioperative period. The operative mortality rate was 0.9%. The overall 5-year survival rate after pulmonary metastasectomy was 26.5% (Fig 1). The median survival time was 26 months. Survival according to each primary site is shown in Table 2. The patients with oral cavity cancer showed significantly worse prognosis than the other cancer patients (p = 0.03). Postoperative therapy after pulmonary metastasectomy was as follows: chemotherapy in 17 patients, chemoradiotherapy in 6 patients, and radiation in 5 patients. There was no significant difference between the no adjuvant therapy group and the adjuvant groups. We assessed the relationship between survival and the following clinical factors: sex, age (
75 or < 75 years), tumor size (> 3 or 
3 cm), number of resected metastases (solitary or multiple), resected side (unilateral or bilateral), location of primary sites (oral cavity or non–oral cavity), primary lymph node metastasis, DFI (> 24 or 24 months), and curability (complete or incomplete). Table 3
shows the results of univariate analyses of survival and clinical factors. Oral cavity cancers, lymph node metastasis, DFI 24 months or less, and incomplete resection are poor prognostic factors. Table 4
shows the results of multivariate analyses of survival and clinical factors. Male sex, oral cavity cancers, lymph node metastasis, and incomplete resection were poor prognostic factors.
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Fig 1. Overall survival of 114 patients after pulmonary metastasectomy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The 5-year survival rate was 26.5%.
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Because being male and having oral cavity cancers could be considered preoperative prognostic factors, the patients were divided into two groups for further analysis: males with oral cavity cancers (n = 17), and others (n = 97). Survival of the male patients with metastatic oral cavity cancer was significantly worse (p < 0.001; Fig 2). No male patients with metastatic oral cavity cancer remained alive 5 years after undergoing pulmonary metastasectomy.
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Fig 2. Survival curves based on two groups, males with oral cavity cancer (dotted line [n = 17]) and others (solid line [n = 97]), obtained by dividing by prognostic factors.
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Comment
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This study revealed a 5-year survival rate after pulmonary metastases from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma of 26.5%, and showed that male sex, oral cavity cancer, lymph node metastasis, and curability are prognostic factors. Nibu and colleagues [8] investigated 32 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who underwent thoracotomy for pulmonary metastases, and reported an overall 5-year survival rate of 32%. Finley and coworkers [9] reported a 29% 5-year survival rate for 18 patients who underwent complete resection of pulmonary metastases from head and neck squamous cell carcinomas, and showed that the survival of patients who underwent metastasectomy was significantly better than that of patients who did not. Wedman and colleagues [6] investigated 138 patients with pulmonary metastases from head and neck cancers, and reported that the 5-year survival rate for 21 patients who underwent pulmonary metastasectomy was 59%, compared with 4% in the nonmetastasectomy group.
Compared with other treatments, we believe that the role of pulmonary resection for metastasis from head and neck squamous cell carcinomas has been established. However, previous studies have been small and of limited sample size. We analyzed data from a large number of patients enrolled in a multi-institutional registry and assessed prognostic factors for pulmonary metastasectomy by multivariate analysis. With regard to prognostic factors after pulmonary metastasectomy that were determined by other investigators, oral cavity cancers, mediastinal lymph node metastasis, and pleural invasion were all negative factors [8]. As determined by multivariate analysis, incomplete resection, complications associated with surgery, and adjuvant therapy of the primary tumor were unfavorable prognostic factors [14]. Liu and associates [15] reported 83 cases of pulmonary metastasis from head and neck cancers, and demonstrated that incomplete resection, age less than 50 years, and DFI of 2 years or less were poor prognostic factors. Disease-free interval is commonly recognized as a significant prognostic factor in various types of pulmonary metastasis [4]. In other reports, DFI longer than 12 months and solitary lung metastasis were favorable prognostic factors for metastatic head and neck cancers [9, 10]. However, the multivariate analysis of this study determined that DFI was not significantly associated with surgical outcome. Disease-free interval depends on the follow-up period or accuracy of diagnostic procedure. Although a short DFI might reflect aggressive and invasive biological behavior, the evaluation of DFI remains difficult as a prognostic factor.
In accordance with a report by Nibu and colleagues [8], our analysis demonstrated that metastatic oral cavity cancer was a significantly worse prognostic factor. On the other hand, Leon and associates [16] showed that the primary site of head and neck cancers is a significant prognostic factor for distant metastasis, and that cancer in the oral cavity had the lowest risk for distant metastasis. Distant metastases originating from oral cavity cancer depend on disease stage [17]. In our multi-institutional study, we could not determine in detail the stage of primary cancer, and oral cavity cancer patients with pulmonary metastasis might have included many advanced stage cases. We investigated the basis behind why metastasized oral cavity cancer has a worse prognosis than other types of head and neck cancer, but unfortunately, could not find the reason. The biological behavior of oral cavity cancers might be different from that of other head and neck cancers. Further study is needed to clarify this issue.
Male sex has been reported to be a prognostic factor in resected pulmonary metastasis from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma [10]. We did not investigate smoking behavior or comorbidities in this study, and that is an important weakness in the study. Smoking status is a well-known unfavorable prognostic factor and might be related to the results of this study with regard to male sex.
Head and neck cancers have varying histology and occur at various primary sites. Some investigators have studied pulmonary metastasis from nonsquamous cell head and neck cancers [6, 10, 15]. The benefits of metastasectomy for nonsquamous cell carcinoma have not been clarified [15]. Because the biological character of nonsquamous cell carcinoma in head and neck cancers is very different from that of squamous cell carcinoma, we focused our study on squamous cell carcinoma. There were 98 nonsquamous cell carcinoma cases registered in our database. The origins of the metastatic cancers were as follows: thyroid 35, salivary gland 34, oral cavity 3, epipharynx 2, mesopharynx 2, and other sites 22. The overall survival of patients with nonsquamous cell carcinomas was significantly better than that of patients with squamous cell carcinoma, and the 5-year survival rate of nonsquamous cell carcinoma patients was 68.4% (data not shown).
In this study, the percentage of lobectomy was relatively high at 54%. We consider the reason for the high rate of lobectomy to be the difficulty in the preoperative diagnosis of pulmonary metastasis from primary lung cancer. In addition, as the mean tumor size was 3.3 cm, lobectomy was a suitable indication for the large tumor size.
Rush [3] has stated that the most important factors for selecting patients for surgery are control of the primary tumor, ability to resect all metastatic disease, absence of extrathoracic disease, and lack of better alternative systemic therapy. Regarding the surgical indications for pulmonary metastasis from head and neck cancers, Liu and colleagues [15] gave the following criteria: the metastasis is limited to the lungs, the lesions are all resectable, and locoregional control of the head and neck primary cancer is obtained or obtainable. Complete resection and locoregional control of primary sites are obviously essential. Our data also suggest that metastatic oral cavitary cancers, especially in male patients, have a poor prognosis. Therefore, indications for surgery in metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinomas should include consideration of the types of primary sites.
There are some limitations to our study. First, we should examine each primary site, but the numbers of cancers at each site are quite small. Large-scale databases are needed to clarify each head and neck cancer. Second, a histopathologic differential diagnosis between head and neck squamous cell carcinomas and lung squamous cell carcinomas is often difficult. In general, the patient's clinical course and stage of primary sites were used to help diagnose whether the patient had pulmonary metastasis or primary lung squamous cell carcinoma. Because the present study was a retrospective analysis, and the differential diagnosis was made at the discretion of each institution, our data might include primary lung cancer. A report on a loss of heterozygosity analysis revealed that 18 of 44 cases of squamous cell lung lesions, which had been clinically interpreted as metastases from head and neck cancers, were considered to be second primary lung cancers [18]. Additional advances in molecular techniques and analysis are needed to further elucidate this complicated problem. Third, there is a selection bias affecting pulmonary metastasectomy outcome results. Most of the reports of the results of metastasectomy come from thoracic surgery centers [6], and candidates for pulmonary metastasectomy are strictly selected based on the aforementioned criteria. Therefore, the present study may be presenting relatively good survival rates. However, selection bias is unavoidable and is a difficult problem to resolve. A prospective randomized trial for pulmonary metastasis treatment is ethically difficult, and is not practical.
In conclusion, we identified prognostic factors for pulmonary metastases from head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. According to multivariate analyses, male sex, oral cavity cancer, lymph node metastasis, and incomplete resection are poor prognostic factors. Male patients with pulmonary metastasis from oral cavity cancers have a poor prognosis, and pulmonary metastasectomy for these patients may not be beneficial. Since there are adequate selection criteria for patients, a good outcome after surgery is promising, with careful preoperative examination, including positron emission tomography [17, 19], and selection.
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Abstract
Introduction
