Lung Adenocarcinoma With Intratumoral Necrosis Induced by Bronchial Artery Embolization

A 70-year-old woman presented with hemoptysis due to a right upper lobe mass. Bronchial artery embolization (BAE) using gelatin sponge was successful in controlling bleeding. Two weeks later, chest computed tomography (CT) revealed that the solid tumour had been replaced by a 5.6 cm thin-walled cavity without fluorodeoxyglucose uptake on positron emission tomography-computed tomography, although fluorodeoxyglucose accumulation was observed in the right hilar lymph node. Right upper lobectomy confirmed adenocarcinoma. The patient, confirmed with a pathological stage of IIIA, received adjuvant chemotherapy and has remained recurrence-free for more than 5 years. This case suggests that BAE induced tumour necrosis and cavitation; however, viable tumour tissue remained. Further accumulation of similar cases is needed to clarify the therapeutic significance of BAE in lung cancer.