American doctors have saved a terminal lung cancer patient with a double lung transplant. A world first that marks a great step forward. But that cannot yet represent hope for everyone: the conditions for its success remain exceptional.
- 50-Year-Old Survived End-Stage Lung Cancer With Double Lung Transplant
- Lung cancer is by far the deadliest in the United States, with nearly one in four deaths related to the disease
In September 2021, the patient, Albert Khoury, suffering from bronchial cancer, spent seven hours on the operating table to receive his two new lungs. Six months later, the operation is a success: his new lungs are working well and no trace of cancerous cells has been found in his body. The team that operated on him had to remove “trillions” of cancer cells.
“Lung transplants are extremely rare in the case of lung cancer, with very few examples identified” explained Ankit Bharat, the chief thoracic surgeon at Northwestern Medicine Hospital in Chicago in a press release.
A bold bet
“For patients with stage 4 cancer, lung transplantation is absolutely out of the question, but since Albert’s cancer was confined to his chest, we were confident that we could rid him of all cancer cells during the operation and to save his life”, says the surgeon.
The operation is a bold bet because the risk of relapse in a patient who must take immunosuppressive drugs to prevent rejection of the transplant is very high if even a few cancer cells remain in the body. The rare first operations of this kind had moreover failed.
“Because of the Covid, I could not start treatment immediately”
Albert’s symptoms (back pain, sneezing, chills and coughing), which appeared in early 2020, had pointed him towards the Covid-19 trail, but when he started coughing up blood, the construction worker , a 54-year-old non-smoker, decided to call his doctor. He then had tests which revealed stage 1 cancer.”But because of the wave of Covid-19, I couldn’t start treatment immediately.“, he says in a press release.
His cancer progressed to stage 2 in July 2020. And he is still progressing to stages 3 then 4, despite chemotherapy.
Despite being told he would not survive, Albert Khoury was deemed eligible for a lung transplant because his cancer, although terminal, had not spread to other organs.
A normal existence
Today, he can live normally, work and even play sports without respiratory assistance. After its success, Ankit Bharat’s team wants to develop new protocols to determine who else might be eligible for such treatment. “We are now convinced that it is possible to offer a transplant in the case of cancer. I think it would have greater effects than can be envisaged at the present time.” according to the surgeon.
The essential
- 50-Year-Old Survived End-Stage Lung Cancer With Double Lung Transplant
- Lung cancer is by far the deadliest in the United States, with nearly one in four deaths related to the disease
- In France, lung cancer is the 3rd cancer of all sexes combined.
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