Salvage Surgery for Bronchopleural Fistula Due to Durvalumab and Chemoradiation

Abstract

Herein we describe a case of salvage lobectomy for a bronchopleural fistula secondary to durvalumab after chemoradiotherapy in initially unresectable non-small cell lung cancer. A 75-year-old man with adenocarcinoma, c-stage IIIB (T4N2M0) in the upper lobe of the right lung, received durvalumab after chemoradiotherapy. Fourteen months after durvalumab was discontinued, pneumonitis developed followed by peripheral bronchopleural fistula, and he unavoidably underwent salvage right upper lobectomy. The postoperative course was uneventful, and air leakage ceased. After chemoradiotherapy and durvalumab, refractory air leakage may develop that may require salvage surgery.