A Chicago man with terminal cancer is saved by a double lung transplant

Double lung transplant

On Thursday, Doctors announced that they had successfully done a double lung transplant on a patient with terminal lung cancer, which gives new hope to others who also have advanced stages of the deadly disease.On September 25, 2021, a 54-year-old non-smoker from Chicago, Albert Khoury, underwent a seven-hour surgery to receive his new lungs at Northwestern Medicine.

Extremely uncommon

Ankit Bharat said, "Lung transplantation for lung cancer is extremely uncommon with few cases reported." He continued, "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."Generally, surgeons are reluctant to proceed with such transplants because if even a few cancerous cells remain, there is a strong chance they will re-grow in a patient taking immune-suppressing medications to prevent organ rejection.

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Symptoms

In early 2020, when he began to experience back pain, sneezing, chills, cough, and mucus, Khoury worked as a cement finisher for Chicago. At first, he thought it was COVID but called his medic when he coughed up blood.He said, "They discovered stage 1 lung cancer, but due to the COVID-19 surge, I couldn't begin treatment right away." By July 2020, his cancer went to stage 2 and, despite many rounds of chemotherapy, kept growing to stage 3 and 4.

Less chance of survival

Khoury was told there was less chance of survival, but his sister told him about the pioneering lung transplants at Northwestern.Bharat led a team that executed the first double lung transplant on a woman in her 20s whose lungs had been decimated by COVID-19 in 2020. And the following year, surgeons at Northwestern Medicine successfully transplanted both lungs into a COVID-19 patient from a donor who had previously recovered from the virus.

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Khoury's health kept declining

Albert came under the care of oncologist Young Chae at Northwestern to receive other cancer-fighting treatments. Still, his health declined, leaving him in an intensive care unit with pneumonia and sepsis.It was decided that he was, in fact, a candidate for transplant since cancer, despite being stage 4, had not spread to other organs, and he received his new lungs after a two-week wait.

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Trillions of cancer cells were removed

The surgeons had to remove "trillions" of cancer cells all over his lungs within a six-hour time frame while taking care not to spill material into his chest cavity or bloodstream.Bharat said that there was some concern about recurrence after the transplant. But after six months of the procedure, doctors are happy with Khoury's progress.

Health progress

Chae said, "Six months after transplant, we're thrilled with Khoury's progress. Khoury can now work and go to the gym without requiring breathing support. He doesn't need oxygen and is leading a normal life."Khoury admitted, "My life went from zero to 100 because of Northwestern Medicine," He continued, "You didn't see this smile on my face for over a year, but now I can't stop smiling."

New protocols

Chae and Bharat are developing new protocols to determine who else might be eligible for such treatment based on the success.Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, making up almost 25% of cancer mortalities. But, the American Cancer Society report discovered that lung cancers are being diagnosed earlier, and patients live longer.