Pulmonary metastasis from endometrial carcinoma.

The objective of this article is to investigate the clinical features of pulmonary metastasis (PM) from endometrial adenocarcinoma, in particular, the predictors of prolonged survival after PM detection. Fifteen patients who developed PM and underwent chest computed tomography (CT) scans for evaluation of PM were studied: 12 patients with pulmonary recurrence and 3 patients with PM on presentation. All patients with bilateral nodules or lymphangitic spread had metastases in other sites prior to or concomitant with PM, most of which were detected in para-aortic lymph nodes and/or the vaginal wall, while only one of five patients with a limited number (n < or = 5) of unilateral nodules had these metastases. The median survival time for the 10 patients with bilateral PMs was significantly shorter than that of the 5 patients with a limited number of unilateral nodules who were treated with surgery (7 versus 50 months, P = 0.005). Patients who developed pulmonary recurrence 2 years after the initial therapy had a significantly longer survival than those who developed it within 2 years (31 versus 10 months, P = 0.01). In conclusion, the distribution of PM determined by CT scans and the time interval between the initial therapy and the detection of pulmonary recurrence are the predictors of survival after PM detection.