Nozaka Yuji, Ohtsuki Yuji, Horie Yasushi, Yasuda Kengo, Takagi Yuzo
Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Tottori Prefectural Kousei Hospital, Kurayoshi, Tottori, Japan.
Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Tottori Prefectural Kousei Hospital, Kurayoshi, Tottori, Japan.
Surg Case Rep. 2025;11(1). doi: 10.70352/scrj.cr.25-0067. Epub 2025 Jul 1.
Spontaneous regression of cancer is rare. Although the underlying mechanism is unknown, immunological responses are thought to be involved.
An 82-year-old Japanese man presented with an incidental bile duct tumor and a dilated common bile duct noted on computed tomography of the abdomen. The scan also showed a 1.1 cm snowball-like shadow in the right lower lobe of the lung. Subsequently, he developed obstructive cholangitis and underwent endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage. Over 4 years of follow-up, the lung nodule repeatedly increased and decreased in size, and new nodules appeared and disappeared. A bronchoscopic biopsy was then performed to evaluate an enlarged nodule, which was consistent with squamous cell carcinoma. He underwent right lower lobectomy with ND1b lymph node dissection. The final diagnosis was pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma (pT1cNXM0).
Immune response activation may have caused the observed tumor shrinkage. Careful follow-up is warranted owing to the possibility of regrowth.
癌症的自发消退很罕见。尽管其潜在机制尚不清楚，但人们认为免疫反应与之有关。
一名82岁的日本男性因偶然发现胆管肿瘤以及腹部计算机断层扫描显示胆总管扩张而就诊。扫描还显示右肺下叶有一个1.1厘米的雪球样阴影。随后，他发展为阻塞性胆管炎并接受了内镜逆行胆管引流术。在4年的随访中，肺结节大小反复增大和缩小，新的结节出现又消失。然后进行了支气管镜活检以评估一个增大的结节，结果与鳞状细胞癌一致。他接受了右下叶切除术并进行了ND1b淋巴结清扫。最终诊断为肺鳞状细胞癌（pT1cNXM0）。
免疫反应激活可能导致了观察到的肿瘤缩小。鉴于肿瘤可能复发，有必要进行密切随访。
