LATE BREAKING TOPICS IN RESPIRATORY MEDICINE 2012 

Minerva Pneumologica 2012 June;51(2):27-43

Copyright © 2012 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Interventional pulmonology procedures for the diagnosis and therapeutic management of lung cancer

Hsia D. ¹, Musani A. ²

¹ Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA; ² National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, USA

Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent malignancies and is the greatest cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Interventional pulmonology is a rapidly growing procedure-based field that encompasses many diagnostic and therapeutic interventions which allow minimally invasive diagnosis and staging as well as palliative measures for patients with thoracic malignancies. New technologies allow accurate navigation and biopsy of peripheral lung nodules and mediastinal lymph nodes that were previously difficult to access with flexible bronchoscopy. Advances in bronchoscopic imaging allows for the detection of early central airway cancers. Central airway tumors also are a significant cause of morbidity and can be palliated using debulking, dilation, and ablation techniques. Pleural disease can also now be diagnosed and palliated with minimally invasive methods. This review discusses key diagnostic and therapeutic advances within the field of interventional pulmonology that have impacted the diagnosis, staging, and therapeutic treatment of lung cancer.