Cancer: Brazilian has lung operated outside the body – and then placed back


Doorman Oswaldo de Jesus Santos, aged 68, was working normally on a Saturday in 2020 when he felt a severe pain in his chest.

As the discomfort did not go away, he decided to go to the emergency room the next day, where he was diagnosed with tuberculosis.

Not noticing an improvement in symptoms after going through the initial treatment, Santos scheduled a new appointment, underwent tests and received the news: the origin of the problem, in fact, was lung cancer.

Born in Itagibá, Bahia, and living in São Paulo for 50 years, Santos says that the discovery of the tumor did not immediately cause fear. "I immediately thought: if there's a way, we'll take the 'animal' out. And, if not, I'll go to the hole anyway", he says, in a joking tone.

Even with his apparent serenity and abnegation, Santos could not have imagined that, a few months after the news broke, he would be one of only three Brazilians to undergo an innovative and little-known surgery in the country.

In summary, his right lung, which was affected by the disease, was completely removed from the body and operated on on a separate operating table, where the tumor masses were removed.

A few hours later, that same organ was re-implanted back into the doorman's chest — where it continues to function to this day.

This operation — known as an autotransplant — allowed Santos' disease to be brought under control.

Three years after the procedure, during which he continued to undergo regular follow-up and examinations, there is still no evidence of relapses or that the tumor has returned.

But this method, of course, is not indicated for all patients with lung cancer - and requires extensive evaluation by the medical team before being performed.


 

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