Total Lung-sparing Surgery for Tracheobronchial Low-grade Malignancies

Lung Carcinoids: A Comprehensive Review for Clinicians

Lung carcinoids are neuroendocrine tumors, categorized as typical or atypical carcinoids based on their histological appearance. While most of these tumors are slow-growing neoplasms, they still possess malignant potential. Many patients are diagnosed incidentally on chest X-rays or CT scans. Presenting symptoms include cough, hemoptysis, wheezing, dyspnea, and recurrent pneumonia. Endocrine symptoms, such as carcinoid syndrome or ectopic Cushing's syndrome, are rare. Surgery is the primary treatment and should be considered in all patients with localized disease, even when thoracic lymph node metastases are present. Patients with distant metastases may be treated with somatostatin analogues, chemotherapy, preferably temozolomide-based, mTOR inhibitors, or peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) with 177Lu-DOTATATE. Most patients have an excellent prognosis. Poor prognostic factors include atypical histology and lymph node metastases at diagnosis. Long-term follow-up is mandatory since metastases may occur late.

The Surgical Management of Lung Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

This review summarizes key recent developments relevant to the surgical management of lung neuroendocrine neoplasms (L-NENs), including typical and atypical carcinoids, large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, and small cell lung carcinoma. This review includes recent insights into the classification, clinical presentation, diagnostic workup, treatment options, and follow-up. Highlighted topics include general principles of surgery in localized or locally advanced or metastatic L-NENs, lung-sparing surgery for small, peripheral typical carcinoids, adjuvant and systemic therapies for typical and atypical carcinoids, and surgery and adjuvant therapies for large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma and small cell lung carcinoma.

Strategy for lung parenchyma-sparing bronchial resection: a case series report

Lung parenchyma-sparing bronchial resection is uncommon, and the operative procedure depends on the cause and location of the stenosis. We present 6 cases and discuss the different surgical strategies for sleeve resection of the central airway without lung resection. Bronchoplasty for the main bronchus and truncus intermedius was performed with a posterolateral approach. We resected the right main bronchus including the right lateral wall of the lower trachea and half of the carina obliquely and performed an anastomosis. The tumour in the left lobar bronchus was exposed and removed by transient division of the accompanying pulmonary artery. Although post-transplant stenosis and malacia can pose a challenge, bronchoplasty can be used as a definitive treatment in experienced centres.

Case Report: Uniportal Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Parenchymal Sparing Secondary Carinal Resection and Reconstruction for the Treatment of Tracheobronchial Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma

Surgical resection is currently the mainstay of treatment for tracheobronchial mucoepidermoid carcinoma (TMEC). The parenchymal sparing secondary carinal resection and reconstruction for TMEC under the uniportal thoracoscopic approach has seldomly been reported in the literature. Here, we report a case of a 42-year-old male patient complaining of the incidental finding of a 1.5 × 1.2 cm neoplasm at the opening of the right bronchus intermedius and a 5.1 × 3.1 cm patchy lesion located at the left upper lobe by chest CT scans in February 2021. This patient successively underwent fiberoptic bronchoscopic biopsy of the bronchial neoplasm and CT-guided biopsy of the left upper lobe lesion. Pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of the endobronchial mass in the right bronchus intermedius as low-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma and left upper lobe lesion as tuberculosis. This patient successfully underwent uniportal thoracoscopic parenchymal sparing tumor resection, reconstruction of the secondary carina and lymphadenectomy at our center. Intraoperative frozen section showed no residual cancer at any bronchial stumps. Postoperative pathology indicated that no metastases were seen in any of the resected lymph nodes. The patient recovered well after surgery. He received a 9-month course of anti-tuberculosis treatment postoperatively. He did not complain of any special discomfort and there was no local recurrence at the 9-month postoperative follow-up. Although technical demanding, this case highlights that uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic parenchymal sparing secondary carinal resection and reconstruction for TMEC is safe and feasible with the preservation of lung function and excellent outcomes.

Surgical Principles in the Management of Lung Neuroendocrine Tumors: Open Questions and Controversial Technical Issues

OPINION STATEMENT

Primary neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) of the lung represent a heterogeneous group of malignancies arising from the endocrine cells, involving different entities, from well differentiated to highly undifferentiated neoplasms. Because of the predominance of poorly differentiated tumors, advanced disease is observed at diagnosis in more than one third of patients making chemo- or chemoradiotherapy the only possible treatment. Complete surgical resection, as defined as anatomical resection plus systematic lymphadenectomy, becomes a reliable curative option only for that little percentage of patients presenting with stage I (N0) high-grade NETs. On the other hand, complete surgical resection is considered the mainstay treatment for localized low- and intermediate-grade NETs. Therefore, in the era of the mini-invasive surgery, their indolent behavior has suggested that parenchyma-sparing resections could be as adequate as the anatomical ones in terms of oncological outcomes, leading to discuss about the correct extent of resection and about the role of lymphadenectomy when dealing with highly differentiated NETs.

Lung sparing left secondary carina resection for low-grade tumors: a single-center study

Left-side secondary carina resection and reconstruction is a rare, complex procedure, performed just in a few specialized centers in a restricted group of patients. Few studies describe this technique and report its short and long-term results. We reviewed our experience to evaluate the perioperative and short-term outcomes of a very demanding surgery. We retrospectively collected the information of all the patients who underwent secondary carina resection and reconstruction for low-grade malignant bronchial tumors at our center. Between January 2012 and September 2018, 23 patients received surgery for low-grade malignant bronchial tumors. In all patients, a secondary carina resection and reconstruction with total lung parenchymal preservation was performed. The mean age was 44.5 ± 12.2 years. Pathologies included adenoid cystic carcinoma in ten patients, carcinoid in 7 (6 typical and 1 atypical), mucoepidermoid carcinoma in 4, myoepithelioma in 1 and inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor in 1. The median length of the resected bronchus was 25 mm (range 15-50 mm). Three patients (13%) had, at least, one postoperative complication with no deaths. Two patients had lymph node metastases and eight had positive margins. Nine patients received adjuvant therapy. Follow-up ranged from 13 to 96 months, all patients are currently alive and free of recurrence. Resection and reconstruction of the left secondary carina with preservation of the lung parenchyma can be performed safely in anatomically and oncologically appropriate patients, providing good short-term results when combined with adjuvant therapies.