INTRODUCTION
Lung transplantation has enjoyed increasing
success during the last two decades. It has
evolved from an experimental endeavor to
the mainstay of therapy for many end-stage
lung diseases. The Registry of the International
Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation
(ISHLT) reported in 2003 that
almost 15,000 lung transplantations have
been performed worldwide and that more than 1,500 lung transplantations are performed
annually.1
Bronchogenic carcinoma is one of the
most common forms of cancer worldwide
and remains the leading cause of cancerrelated
deaths in Europe and North America.2
Because of the theoretical risk of rapid
cancer dissemination with post-transplant
immunosuppression, bronchogenic carcinoma
has been considered a strict contraindication
to lung transplantation.