Double Lung Transplant Saves A Cancer Patient in the US
by Naba Batool
SHARES
According to the latest reports, US surgeons have successfully performed a double lung transplant on a terminal lung cancer patient. This gives hope of a potential treatment for all those who are struggling against this deadly disease.
Albert Khoury is a 54-year-old non-smoker who was suffering from terminal lung cancer. He underwent a seven-hour surgical procedure on 25th September 2021, to receive the new lungs at Northwestern Medicine Center in Chicago.
The successful double lung transplant is giving new hope to others with terminal lung cancer. https://t.co/r71wPVVOK4
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 24, 2022
Approximately six months ago, his lungs were working fine and he showed no such signs of cancer or its spread.
Ankit Bharat who is the chief of thoracic surgery at Northwestern Medicine said in a statement
Lung transplantation for lung cancer is extremely uncommon with few cases reported. For patients with stage 4 cancer, lung transplantation is considered a complete 'no-no,' but because Albert's cancer was confined only to his chest, we were confident we could clear all cancer during surgery and save his life."
Doctors are still reluctant regarding this procedure because if the cancer cells are still present in the organ, there is a strong chance that they will regrow especially if the person is taking immune-suppressing medications to stop the onset of organ rejection.
The history of such processes in the past has not been successful, but after that, the scientific advances have made the scientific community confident to understand the dynamics of cancer, its spread, and its impact.
Bharat and Chae are developing a new set of SOPs to abide by so that those who are eligible for this treatment can be preferred.
Bharat said that "We have now convinced ourselves that it's possible to offer transplant in a cancer setting... I think it's going to make a bigger impact than we appreciate right now."
Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths around the globe. Thus the need for these promising treatments is more evident than ever!
