Pulmonary fibrosis combined with lung cancer following lung transplantation: should we do more?

Currently, lung transplantation is the standard of care for patients with end-stage lung disease, with interstitial lung disease (ILD) being the most common reason in the recent years In the other hand, in cases where stage II and III lung cancer have been identified following lung transplantation, long-term survival outcomes are poor when compared to lung cancer patients that have not received a lung transplant because the use of immunosuppressant and the problem of rejection and infection and the treatment of recurrence and so on. However, there is no statistical difference observed in stage I (pT1N0M0) patients. In this paper we report about a patient with ILD receiving left lung transplantation in the early time. A lesion of the right lung which was considered the normal ILD tissue and without enough attention. Post-transplant it showed progress and finally the whole right lung (native lung) was occupied by the tumor. Some ground glass changes could also be found in the transplanted lung several months later. A secondary lung transplant was performed for this patient, and there has been no postoperative recurrence thus far. For lung transplant patients with high-risk factors, effective surveillance methods are required for the early detection of lung cancer.