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Vol.62 No.2 contents | Japanese/English |
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- Case Report -
A Case of Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma That Regrew Four Months After Spontaneous Regression Following a Transbronchial Biopsy
Hikaru Yamaguchi1, Satoshi Muto1, Sho Inomata1, Masayuki Watanabe1, Yuki Ozaki1, Naoyuki Okabe1, Yuki Matsumura1, Yutaka Shio1, Hiroyuki Suzuki11Department of Chest Surgery, Fukushima Medical University, Japan
Background. Spontaneous regression of cancer has been reported as a very rare phenomenon. We herein report a case of pathologically diagnosed lung cancer that regrew after spontaneous regression and was surgically resected. Case. A 75-year-old man was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung after a 1.7 cm nodule in the upper lobe of the right lung was detected by computed tomography (CT) at his previous doctor's office in March 20XX. The patient was referred to our department in May, and surgery was scheduled in June. CT performed 2 days before the surgery showed that the tumor had shrunk to 0.6 cm in length and diameter. The planned surgery was thus cancelled, and the patient was followed up. However, CT performed in October showed regrowth of the tumor. We decided to operate and performed the surgery in December. The postoperative pathological diagnosis was squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, pT1bN0M0, p-stage IA2. Conclusion. There have been various reports on factors responsible for spontaneous tumor regression. The present patient showed an increase in the percentage of regulatory T cells in surgical specimens, a phenomenon suggested to be related to tumor regrowth. Even after spontaneous regression of lung cancer, the tumor can reincrease in size, as in the present patient, so careful follow-up is necessary.
key words: Lung cancer, Squamous cell carcinoma, Spontaneous regression, Regrowth, Surgery
Received: August 22, 2021
Accepted: November 15, 2021
JJLC 62 (2): 103-106, 2022
