Right lower lobe autotransplantation for locally advanced central lung cancer.

A 44-year-old man with locally advanced central lung cancer was treated by right lower lobe lung autotransplantation after pneumonectomy using an extracellular phosphate-buffered solution for cold lung preservation. The advantage of the ex vivo operation made it possible to perform safe and definitive cancer resection without massive bleeding. Cold lung preservation brought some advantages, such as reducing the risk of ischemia-reperfusion injury compared with warm ischemia and allowing enough time to achieve microscopically negative margins. The patient returned to normal life with minimum loss of pulmonary reserve and no recurrence of lung cancer for 6 months.