missyf
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I have not seen any recent info on possible palliative lung transplantation for multifocal BAC in which other treatments are not well tolerated. The articles from around 2010 discuss recurrence which is concerning but what about using transplantation to increase survival? Are any of the major transplantation centers screening for this and proceeding on a case by case basis? Or is transplantation basically off the table?
Thank you
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Reply # - June 17, 2016, 06:42 AM
Hi Missy,
Hi Missy,
Transplants aren't often recommended in BAC, and there really aren't enough cases to providence evidence that a transplant is an effective intervention. As Dr. West has stated:
"There aren’t real stats. Transplants have been tried in small series of patients here and there, with short-term follow-up looking good in the year or two after surgery, but then no long term follow-up reported. My understanding is that there are typically recurrences long term, and it’s not really clear that this is actually curative for people in very high risk (otherwise incurable) situations. Because BAC can often progress slowly, and this surgery is most likely to be offered to unusually fit patients, it’s not clear at all that lung transplants as a treatment for BAC really add beyond what would happen with these people anyway (they are more likely to be the ones to do well for a few years). It’s certainly not a common intervention and not one that is routinely recommended by lung cancer experts." - http://cancergrace.org/lung/2010/07/09/basics-of-bac/#comment-8924
JimC
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