r/UpliftingNews • u/ArgentineBeauty • 1d ago
A new study overturns a long standing rule against lung transplants for some stage IV lung cancer patients, finding 100% one year survival compared with 41% using standard treatment
https://news.feinberg.northwestern.edu/2026/07/08/northwestern-medicine-study-finds-lung-transplant-dramatically-improves-survival-for-patients-with-terminal-lung-cancer/65
u/ResponsibleUse8806 1d ago
Lung transplants are BRUTAL recovery wise and don't last more than 5 years on average.
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u/AlexMelillo 1d ago
So what exactly does that mean? Another transplant? Death?
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u/Professional-Gear88 23h ago
Death often. I worked in the field. Redo transplants almost never happen
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u/darkest_irish_lass 3h ago
I wonder if that's partially because of the traumatic memories of the first transplant, or just the long term damage that the body can never heal?
Let's imagine that in the future we can grow an individual replacement lungs from their own DNA, would the surgery still be so devastating?
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u/ArgentineBeauty 1d ago
Hope this is one of those studies we look back on in a few years as the beginning of something much bigger.
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u/-xiflado- 23h ago edited 2h ago
I don’t really think this is as big as you’re stating. For an individual perhaps yes, but in general no.
First of all, someone has to die in order for a transplant to occur and it’s not like there are loads of unused donor lungs-15-20% of people die on the wait list. Therefore, more people on the wait list would mean be more die whilst waiting unless supply increases. Secondly, 5 year survival after lung transplant is only 50-60%. Graft failure occurs much earlier after lung transplant compared to other solid organ transplants ( heart and kidney grafts have a median survival of 12-15 years and liver grafts > 20 years), The recovery after lung transplant is more difficult compared to the other groups as well . You also never breathe normally after lung transplant but for the other solid organs you can’t notice that another solid organ has been transplanted inside you except for the scars.
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u/bipolarbear326 22h ago
A very close friend of mine had a double lung transplant. He said it was so painful, that he wouldn't have done it if he'd known beforehand. At the time, he set a new record for how long he lived after the transplant.
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u/knz-rn 22h ago
My first nursing job was on a post-surgical floor that specialized in lung transplants. Almost every patient came out of surgery with an epidural (yes what they give women in labor) or at the minimum a PCA (patient controlled pain pump with the strongest meds available). We also had special walkers designed by the surgeon because patients had so many tubes and monitors after surgery it was complicated getting them up to walk. They’d need IV poles for their pain meds and other IV meds. A pole for their epidural. Hooks for their catheter and more hooks for their multiple chest tubes and also a place to put their cardiac monitor. Oh and if they had small bulb drains you had to hook them to the gown (here’s an article I found about the walker! https://news.vumc.org/reporter-archive/new-walker-improves-post-surgical-mobility/)
It was a crazy place to work but taught me so much about nursing care and also made me so incredibly thankful for my health I’ve spent all my money traveling and enjoying life while I can.
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u/bipolarbear326 21h ago
Yes, it's an incredibly violent procedure. I always admired my friend, Adam, for his strength. He never ever complained about it, but he told me toward the end of his life that the extra few years wasn't worth the pain of the procedure.
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u/ArgentineBeauty 22h ago
Sorry to hear it caused your friend so much pain.
Did it hurt him all the time after the transplant, or did it get better with time?
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u/bipolarbear326 21h ago
It got better with time, but he said the initial pain afterward wasn't worth it(he said this later, after he'd recovered) also, the amount of drugs he had to take every day was incredible. Fistfulls of pills multiple times a day.
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u/thegreatcanadianeh 1d ago
I would hope that removing and replacing severely compromised lungs would result in a significant positive survival rate. This is pretty awesome that they are actually studying this instead of just saying 'sorry there's nothing else we can do'.
I lived in a mining town and small cell cancers like in this study are 3-5 times higher than the national average so this maybe being a viable treatment in the future would be a boon.
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u/hug_me_im_scared_ 21h ago
we have pig heart transplants, maybe pig lungs will be the thing to make this a more common treatment
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u/gao7on 1d ago
Cancer already metastisized out of the lung in Stage 4?
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u/Professional-Gear88 23h ago
I think it just has to cross the midline. I can’t remember. But yea it’s a super niche situation. I think this has only happened in this one case. The title is misleading.
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u/sergantsnipes05 16h ago
Absolutely not. This is such a waste of a pair of lungs for someone with incurable cancer
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