title: Tracheoesophageal fistula closed by chemoradiotherapy in lung cancer.
abstract: A 45-year-old man complaining of cough, dyspnea, and difficulty in swallowing was referred to our hospital. Chest CT scan showed a mediastinal mass compressing the trachea. He was diagnosed with poorly differentiated lung carcinoma by percutaneous needle biopsy. Bronchoscopy and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF). Long-lasting febrile neutropenia made it impossible to continue chemotherapy, but a course of radiotherapy (total 61 Gy) was completed. The next endoscopy revealed closure of the TEF. Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) has been reported to close TEF in esophageal cancer, but the risk of a CRT-induced worsening of the fistula has dissuaded physicians from using CRT to treat TEF in lung cancer patients. CRT may serve as a palliative treatment for TEF in lung cancer as well as esophageal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kofu, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Yoshihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsuzaki
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mitaka
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukasawa
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyashita
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marino
authors.forename: Akitoshi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oyama
authors.forename: Naohiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Inase