Spontaneous regressions in non-small cell lung cancer with different clinical outcomes

Masaki Yamamoto; Shuhei Iizuka; Yoshiro Otsuki; Toru Nakamura

doi:10.1016/j.ijscr.2022.106812

Spontaneous regressions in non-small cell lung cancer with different clinical outcomes

Int J Surg Case Rep. 2022 Mar:92:106812. doi: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2022.106812. Epub 2022 Feb 9.

Authors

Masaki Yamamoto¹, Shuhei Iizuka², Yoshiro Otsuki³, Toru Nakamura⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Seirei Hamamatsu General Hospital, 2-12-12, Sumiyoshi, Nakaku, Hamamatsu-city, Shizuoka 430-8558, Japan. Electronic address: masaki.yamamoto.0216@gmail.com.
² Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Seirei Hamamatsu General Hospital, 2-12-12, Sumiyoshi, Nakaku, Hamamatsu-city, Shizuoka 430-8558, Japan. Electronic address: shue@dc4.so-net.ne.jp.
³ Department of Pathology, Seirei Hamamatsu General Hospital, 2-12-12, Sumiyoshi, Nakaku, Hamamatsu-city, Shizuoka 430-8558, Japan. Electronic address: otsuki@sis.seirei.or.jp.
⁴ Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Seirei Hamamatsu General Hospital, 2-12-12, Sumiyoshi, Nakaku, Hamamatsu-city, Shizuoka 430-8558, Japan. Electronic address: tonakamu@nifty.ne.jp.

Abstract

Introduction and importance: Spontaneous regression (SR) of cancer is extremely rare in non-small cell lung cancer and the exact pathogenesis is unclear.

Case presentations: A 69-year-old man underwent a right upper lobectomy for a squamous cell carcinoma histologically confirmed 8 weeks prior. A histopathological examination of the surgical specimen revealed no viable cancer. He remains disease free at 5 years after surgery. A 77-year-old man presented with a metastatic bone tumor compatible with a non-small cell lung cancer origin. He had undergone a surgical biopsy for a right lung nodule of which the histopathological examination revealed only scar tissue a year prior. He died of cancer 4 months after the diagnosis of a bone metastasis.

Clinical discussion: The unknown etiology of an SR of cancer is still to be resolved.

Conclusion: Patients with an SR of cancer may yield a variety of clinical outcomes and a meticulous observation is essential.

Keywords: Non-small cell lung cancer; Pathogenesis; Spontaneous regression.