HOME  >  Online journal

Vol.45 No.2 contents

Japanese/English

Full Text of PDF (72K) Article in Japanese

- Case Report -

Three Cases of Tracheal and Endobronchial Malignancies Treated by High-Power Diode (GaAlAs) Laser Combined With Chemoradiotherapy

Tetsu Yamada¹, Yoshiki Kobayashi², Hideo Kita², Hirotaka Yasuba², Wataru Chiba¹, Shigeki Hitomi¹
Division of ¹Thoracic Surgery, ²Respiratory and Allergy Medicine, Takatsuki Red Cross Hospital, Japan

---

Background. Development of a high power diode (GaAlAs) laser system has enabled the treatment of tracheal and endobronchial malignancies via bronchoscopy. Compared with the previously used Nd-YAG laser, GaAlAs laser system is more compact and more portable and has an equal clinical effect. Cases. We encountered 3 cases of inoperable tracheal cancer and endobronchial metastasis of renal cell cancer and breast cancer. All the patients complained of respiratory symptoms including bloody sputum, wheezing and cough. They were treated by the GaAlAs laser system (UDL-60, Olympus) via bronchoscopy, combined with systemic chemotherapy and external irradiation. The total amount of energy delivered by diode laser treatments were 1340 J, 3023 J and 1115 J. No complication was encountered. In all the cases, respiratory symptoms disappeared immediately after diode laser treatment, and local control for more than 2 years was obtained by the combination with systemic chemotherapy and external irradiation. Conclusion. Laser treatment by the GaAlAs laser system should be considered as a therapeutic option for long term control of respiratory symptoms in patients with tracheal and endobronchial malignancies.
key words: Tracheal cancer, Endobronchial tumor, Bronchoscopy, Diode laser

Received: October 21, 2004
Accepted: March 2, 2005

JJLC 45 (2): 139-143, 2005