A second person has been cured of end-stage lung cancer after a rare double lung transplant.
Tannaz Ameli, 64, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has now been declared cancer-free after undergoing surgery at Northwestern Medicine in June. She joins Albert Khoury (54), who successfully underwent a North-West operation in 2021.
Lung transplants for patients at this stage would normally be a “complete no-no,” said Dr. Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery at Northwestern. But luckily for Mr Khoury and Ms Ameli, their cancer did not spread to their lungs.
This is a rare feature of stage 4 lung cancer. This allows the transplant to completely remove the disease, making the couple perfect candidates for surgery.
Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death for Americans, accounting for approximately 120,000 deaths each year. It is estimated that 240,000 cases will be diagnosed by 2023.
Tannaz Ameli (left) and Albert Khoury (right) are the first two patients to receive double lung transplants at Northwestern Medicine
Mr. Khoury received his transplant in September 2021. A non-smoker, he was working as a concrete paver for the Chicago Department of Transportation in early 2020 when he began experiencing back pain, sneezing, chills and mucus.
He initially thought he had Covid. He knew something worse was going on when he called his doctor after he started coughing up blood.
Mr Khoury was later diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer, but the pandemic prevented him from starting treatment immediately.
Within a few months it progressed to stage 2 and despite several rounds of chemotherapy, her cancer continued to worsen and eventually progressed to stage 4.
“Doctors from other health systems told me there was no chance of survival,” Khoury said.
Then his sister saw a news story about lung transplants being developed for Covid patients at Northwestern Medicine and persuaded him to make an appointment.
Mr Khoury’s health only took a turn for the worse when his sister saw a news report about lung transplants being developed for Covid patients at Northwestern Medicine and persuaded him to make an appointment.
Meanwhile man developed pneumonia and sepsis and was ventilated in the intensive care unit.
Mr Khoury, a non-smoker, started suffering from back pain, sneezing, colds and mucus in early 2020.
Like Mr Khoury, Ms Ameli required no further cancer treatment after her double lung transplant
As his condition worsened, doctors began to consider surgery.
The cancer, which had not metastasized – or spread to different parts of the body – raised hopes of a double lung transplant.
In a double lung transplant, both of the recipient’s lungs are removed one at a time and replaced with lungs from a donor in a single operation.
But with the surgeon’s new technique, they take out both cancerous lungs at the same time and replace them with new ones.
With the original transplant technique, there is a risk of cancer cells being transferred between the old lung and the new lung if only one is replaced.
Doctors had to be extremely careful during the seven-hour operation to prevent cancer cells from Mr Khoury’s old lungs from entering his chest cavity or bloodstream.
Cancer cells that are released can grow into new cancer elsewhere in the body.
Eighteen months later there was still no sign of cancer in Mr Khoury’s body and he was able to return to work.
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He said: “Thanks to Northwestern Medicine, my life went from zero to 100. You haven’t seen that smile on my face in over a year, but now I can’t stop smiling. My medical team never gave up on me.’
Mrs. Ameli, a retired nurse and also a non-smoker, developed a chronic cough at the end of 2021.
She was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer when she went to her doctor’s office to have the cough outside examined.
Chemotherapy did not help; The hospital suggested moving her to hospice for end-of-life care.
Ms Ameli said: “I begged my doctors in Minnesota to consider a lung transplant, but they wouldn’t. Fortunately, my husband didn’t want to give up and insisted on a second opinion.”
Like Mr Khoury, Ms Ameli required no further cancer treatment after her double lung transplant.
Northwestern Medical surgeons have developed a new surgical technique to eliminate the cancer while minimizing the risk of spread.
Dr. Bharat said: “This innovative technique involves the patient receiving a total heart and lung bypass, carefully removing both cancerous lungs at the same time with the lymph nodes, washing the airway and chest cavity to remove the cancer, and then again Pure lungs are used . . .
Northwestern’s new DREAM program offers hope to fellow terminally ill lung cancer patients.
The results of the program’s first 75 patients are being followed in a new research called DREAM to track transplant outcomes.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
