Efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy after complete resection of pulmonary metastasis from colorectal cancer

The most effective treatment for pulmonary metastasis from colorectal cancer (CRC) is complete resection. However, as the recurrence rate after resection of the pulmonary metastases from CRC is high, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy is often performed in clinical practice. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of single-agent adjuvant chemotherapy after resection of pulmonary metastasis from CRC. The medical records of 16 patients who underwent the first complete resection of pulmonary metastasis from CRC were retrospectively reviewed. A total of eight patients were treated with single-agent adjuvant chemotherapy after resection of pulmonary metastasis, and oral fluoropyrimidines were selected in all regimens. As a result, the relapse-free survival rate after resection of pulmonary metastasis in the group that received postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy was significantly improved in comparison with the group treated with surgery alone. In the subgroup analysis, patients who benefited from postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in some high-risk groups were selected, including patients with a high tumor stage or poor immunological status. In conclusion, single-agent adjuvant chemotherapy after resection of pulmonary metastasis from CRC was effective for reducing the risk of recurrence and was safe to administer. In addition, certain risk factors may identify patients who would receive more benefit from postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy after resection of pulmonary metastasis from CRC.