Lung transplants boost survival for select stage 4 lung cancer patients, study finds

Northwestern Medicine surgeons and oncologists performed double lung transplants on a small group of stage 4 lung cancer patients whose disease was confined to the lungs.

The JAMA study compared 17 transplanted patients with 81 similar patients who continued standard therapies, finding the transplant group survived longer.

Historically, advanced lung cancer has been a contraindication for transplant because of high recurrence risk and low survival, but the new data suggest a select subset may benefit.

The findings could prompt reconsideration of transplant eligibility criteria and stimulate further research, though ethical allocation of donor organs remains a concern.