Higashiyama Masahiko, Oda Kazuyuki, Okami Jiro, Maeda Jun, Kodama Ken, Imamura Fumio
J Med Case Rep. 2009 Mar 27;3:6800. doi: 10.1186/1752-1947-3-6800.
There have been few reports of spontaneous regression of malignant pleural mesothelioma, but the mechanism for this is unknown. We present a case report on a patient with malignant pleural mesothelioma showing apparent tumor disappearance in a local relapse after surgery.
A 73-year-old man presented with malignant pleural mesothelioma in the right thoracic cavity. A pleurectomy was performed, and as expected, the tumor locally relapsed with increasing chest pain. However, the symptoms suddenly improved while the tumor was apparently reduced, and spontaneous tumor regression was initially considered. The patient confessed that he had self-administered a mushroom extract with alternative parasympathetic nerve stimulation therapy thereafter. The complete disappearance of the tumor was clinically achieved during a 29-month follow-up with continuing self-treatment.
This is the first report describing a malignant pleural mesothelioma patient in Japan showing long-term complete disappearance of a local relapse after surgery. This event was a tumor regression possibly due to an immunological effect of combined complementary and alternative therapy.
关于恶性胸膜间皮瘤自发消退的报道很少，但其机制尚不清楚。我们报告一例恶性胸膜间皮瘤患者，术后局部复发时肿瘤明显消失。
一名73岁男性，右侧胸腔患有恶性胸膜间皮瘤。进行了胸膜切除术，不出所料，肿瘤局部复发，胸痛加重。然而，症状突然改善，同时肿瘤明显缩小，最初考虑为肿瘤自发消退。患者承认此后自行服用了一种蘑菇提取物并接受了替代性副交感神经刺激疗法。在持续自我治疗的29个月随访期间，肿瘤在临床上完全消失。
这是日本首例描述恶性胸膜间皮瘤患者术后局部复发长期完全消失的报告。这一事件可能是由于补充和替代疗法的联合免疫效应导致的肿瘤消退。
