Long-term survival in a patient with pulmonary spindle cell carcinoma treated with traditional Chinese medicine

Abstract

Spindle cell carcinoma (SCC) is a rare pulmonary malignancy, accounting for only 0.2%–0.3% of all lung cancers. Therefore, the prognosis and treatment of pulmonary SCC is unclear. There are only 13 reported cases in literature, only three of which had a survival of more than 11 months. Here we reported a long-term survival of a patient with pulmonary SCC who underwent treatment with traditional Chinese medicine. At the most recent follow-up in July 2018, her survival after diagnosis is 48 months and she continues to do well. To our knowledge, this is the longest survival of late stage SCC with the largest tumour burden.

Clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of pulmonary spindle cell carcinoma (PSCC): a population-based retrospective study

“…High aggressiveness was considered as the characteristic of PSCC compared with other subtypes of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (6). Up to now, there have been no large-scale researches focused on PSCC, and clinical characteristics, diagnosis, and treatment strategy of PSCC were still unclearly interpreted.…”

“…Furthermore, no standard treatments have been developed for PSCC based on chemotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), surgery, and radiation therapy. Although the treatments of Chinese medicine or carboplatin combined with albumin paclitaxel had been proven to extend the survival of PSCC in case reports, further studies with larger sample size were still needed (6,7). Although the sensitized mutation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was observed in the PSCC, the treatments exhibited no marked effects.…”

Spindle cell tumor of the lung: A rare case

“…The SPCC commonly affects the oral cavity, larynx, uterus, conjunctiva, prostate, breasts, kidney, and very rarely the lungs (approximately 0.4% of lung cancers). [6,7] There is a scarcity of data in the medical literature on SPCC regarding its clinical presentation, treatment, disease progression, and management due to its low incidence rate. The authors present an interesting case of a 79-year-old male who was diagnosed with an amoebic liver abscess and incidentally detected to have a lung mass which was later proven to be SPCC on biopsy.…”

Vertical One-and-a-Half Syndrome Due to Metastatic Spindle Cell Carcinoma of the Lung

“…2 There are few existing case reports of brainstem metastases in patients with spindle cell carcinoma of the lung. 3 Vertical one-and-a-half syndrome is an extremely rare finding, previously reported in patients with unilateral ischemic stroke of the meso-diencephalon. It is a result of disruption of the posterior commissure and decussating fibers to the oculomotor complex.…”

“…2 There are few existing case reports of brainstem metastases in patients with spindle cell carcinoma of the lung. 3…”