Disappearance of lung adenocarcinoma after total en bloc spondylectomy using frozen tumor-bearing vertebra for reconstruction

摘要

Purpose: Total en bloc spondylectomy (TES) is a surgical procedure performed to achieve complete resection of an aggressive benign spinal tumor or a malignant spinal tumor. When reconstructing the spine after resection, we have been using liquid nitrogen-frozen resected spine bearing tumor as a bone graft, expecting an immunological response to tumor-specific antigen(s). The purpose of this article is to report a successful treatment case of lung adenocarcinoma metastasis with TES and this cryotherapy. Methods: A 59-year-old male presented with rapid progression of neurological deterioration of the lower limbs due to a spinal metastasis from T8 to T10. The primary lung adenocarcinoma had already been excised under thoracoscopy. The patient underwent TES with reconstruction using frozen tumor-bearing vertebra for the bone graft. Results: One month after surgery, a new nodule appeared at the right middle lobe of the lung. However, we carried out no biopsy of the newly emerged nodule and the patient received no adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Six months after surgery, the tumor vanished. No local recurrence or metastasis of the tumor has been observed until now. Conclusions: TES with a liquid nitrogen-frozen tumor specimen could be a promising therapeutic option for cancer patients with spine metastasis. © 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg