Bronchoscopy and the peripheral nodule in the age of lung cancer screening and targeted therapies

Abstract

With the publication of the national lung cancer screening trial (NLST), screening for lung cancer is expected to become more commonplace. The discovery of pulmonary nodules that require further management will, therefore, increase as well and will generate a growing need for tissue given the recent inroads in the pursuit of individualized therapies for lung cancer. This, coupled with imaging advances in screening process, have all conspired to raise the bar on the limits of the bronchoscope, especially in the pursuit of small peripheral lesions. This review highlights advances in navigational bronchoscopy and tissue processing which may help the bronchoscopist of the 21st century meet these and other challenges.