The man had lung cancer but mistook Covid-19

American doctors have successfully performed a lung transplant for a patient with stage 4 lung cancer. This case gives hope to those suffering from the deadly disease in its terminal stages.

Albert Khoury, 54, who works in the construction industry, started suffering from back pain, sneezing, chills and coughing in early 2020. Initially, he assumed he had Covid-19.

However, after coughing up blood, he went to the doctor and was diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer. At that time, the Covid-19 epidemic was complicated, so he couldn’t get treatment right away.

By July 2020, his cancer had progressed to stage 2. Although he had gone through many rounds of chemotherapy, the disease worsened to stages 3 and 4. Doctors said he had no chance to live long. further.

Mr. Khoury underwent a 7-hour transplant to receive his new lung in Chicago (USA) on September 25, 2021.

Now, six months after the surgery, Mr. Khoury’s lungs are functioning normally. He has no signs of cancer in his body, and can even go to the gym without breathing assistance.

Mr. Khoury recovered after receiving a new lung transplant. Photo: Northwestern Medicine

“My life went from zero to 100. People haven’t seen a smile on my face for over a year, but now I’m always smiling,” said Mr. Khoury.

Doctors very rarely perform such transplants. Some residual cancer cells can multiply in patients receiving immunosuppressive drugs to prevent organ rejection.

Several such cases were performed before with no success. But medical advances have allowed doctors to better understand the spread of cancer.

Ankit Bharat, Head of Thoracic Surgery, said: “Lung transplants for cancer patients are extremely rare. For someone with stage 4 cancer, a lung transplant is nearly impossible. But because Mr Khoury’s cancer was confined to his chest, we were confident we could remove it during surgery and save his life.”

At that time, her sister told Mr. Khoury about the transplant for a 20-year-old girl whose lungs had been ravaged by Covid-19.

Mr. Khoury has been tried other anti-cancer treatments by Dr. Young Chae. But his health continued to decline, leaving him in the intensive care unit due to pneumonia and sepsis.

Experts consider Mr Khoury a candidate for a transplant when the cancer, despite being at stage 4, has not yet spread to other organs. Two weeks later, he received a new lung.

The team had to remove cancer cells from the male patient’s lung. “It was an enjoyable night,” said Dr Bharat.

Based on the success of the surgery, Dr Bharat and Dr Chae are developing a new set of procedures to identify suitable subjects for such treatment.

To date, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, accounting for nearly 25% of all cases.

It is also the second most common type of cancer after breast cancer in the United States. Each year, nearly 250,000 Americans are diagnosed with the disease.

An Yen (According to Daily Mail)