Prevalence

• According to Medscape.com, pulmonary metastases are associated with 20 percent to 54 percent of all cancer deaths.
  
  

Symptoms

• Metastatic pulmonary disease may not produce symptoms. Some cases, however, involve coughing, chest pain or breathing difficulty.
  
  

Originating Cancers

• According to Medline Plus, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer and sarcoma are among the types of cancer that commonly cause pulmonary metastatic disease.
  
  

Treatment

• Pulmonary metastases may be removed surgically in some cases where the original tumor is also removed. According to Medline Plus, pulmonary metastases are often treated with chemotherapy.
  
  

Considerations

• According to research published in the journal Chest, cigarette smoking is associated with increased risk of pulmonary metastatic disease among women with breast cancer.
  
  

Other Tumor Locations

• The lungs are commonly associated with metastatic tumors. The brain and the liver are other sites in the body where metastases often are found.