Objective: To describe the clinical presentations, diagnosis and treatment of endotracheal/endobronchial metastases (EEM).
Methods: Retrospective and follow-up analyses were conducted for 62 cases of bronchoscopically confirmed EEM. Clinical staging, location in the tracheobronchial tree, the number of lesions, treatment and prognosis were analyzed.
Results: The most common neoplasms associated with EEM were breast cancer (17.7%), coronal cancer (17.7%), and esophageal carcinoma (14.5%). Most EEM patients presented with cough, hemoptysis, dyspnea, chest pain and fever. Abnormal changes on chest X-ray were found in 87.1% cases, and CT changes were found in all patients. A total of 76 intraluminal lesions were recorded, of which 19 in the trachea and 57 in the bronchus, including 31 in the right bronchus and 26 in the left bronchus. Type I EEM accounted for 28.9%; Type II, 23.7%; Type III, 14.5%, and Type IV, 32.9%. The median survival time was 9.8 months. There was significant difference in survival time between Type IV EEM and the other three types (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: EEM may occur in the trachea or in the bronchus. Flexible bronchoscopy is a valuable tool for the diagnosis of EEM. Although there are cases of long survival, the prognosis of EEM is generally poor.