Spontaneous Regression Of Cancer
Connecticut Medicine 54(4): Apr 1990; 179-182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13126-012-0040-y
View Original Source →Abstract
Regression of carcinoma of the larynx after inadequate therapy is rare. Carcinoma of the larynx was diagnosed histologically in one patient following a stripping procedure of the larynx. This was not considered adequate therapy, but further therapy was refused. There was no evidence of this tumor at laryngoscopy two years later or at autopsy 12 years after the initial tumor was found. This patient developed another unusual finding, a metachronous carcinoma of the lung, which caused his death. (Permission to reproduce case report denied by authors.)
Case Details
Personal Characteristics
Nr, a 62-year-old woman
Clinical Characteristics
Three months earlier she had had a left upper lobectomy for adenocarcinoma of the lung. On follow-up evaluation a bone scan was consistent with metastases to ribs and pelvis. A computed tomographic scan of the abdomen showed three focal defects.
Remission Characteristics
A year after the initial visit and without any chemotherapy or specific therapy the scans were found to be entirely normal. Following an eight-year period during which the patient was clinically free of metastatic disease, a bone scan was again abnormal and biopsy revealed metastatic adenocarcinoma, consistent with the primary lung carcinoma.
Treatment & Mechanisms
Proposed Remission Mechanisms
Not discussed
Clinical Treatment
Left upper lobectomy for adenocarcinoma of the lung
Non-Clinical Treatment
The patient and her husband decided to defer chemotherapy for several months and vacation in the interim.
Additional Notes
The patient returned again for a second opinion regarding chemotherapy in 1989.