Development of postoperative bronchopleural fistula after neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer: case reports and review of the literature

The advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors has dramatically changed the treatment paradigm for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Due to the complexity and diversity of stage III disease, the inclusion of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in neoadjuvant treatment regimens is also required. However, immune-related adverse events (irAEs) limit the application of ICIs to a certain extent. Bronchopleural fistula (BPF) is a serious and fatal complication after pneumonectomy that is rarely reported, especially in patients who accept neoadjuvant immunotherapy or chemoimmunotherapy.

Herein, we reported four patients with postoperative BPF who received a neoadjuvant regimen of sintilimab plus chemotherapy. Postoperative BPF occurred in the late stage in three patients; one patient underwent bronchoscopic fistula repair, and the fistula was closed well after surgery, and the other two patients gradually recovered within 1–2 months after symptomatic treatment with antibiotics. One patient with BPF after left pneumonectomy died of respiratory failure due to pulmonary infection. We also reviewed the literature on the development of postoperative BPF in patients receiving immuno-neoadjuvant therapy to discuss the clinical process further, postoperative pathological changes, as well as risk factors of BPF patients.

Central type lung cancer with stage III may be the risk factors of BPF in cases of neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy for lung cancers patients.