Morphological and molecular genetic diagnosis of lung cancer: methods and problems

Abstract

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Despite improvements in diagnostic procedures, most cases of this disease are diagnosed at common and metastatic stages. In recent years, new approaches to systemic antitumor treatment have been registered, which are the main method of treatment in patients with stage IIIB-IV. The diagnosis and staging of patients with lung cancer in recent decades has increasingly relied on minimally invasive tissue sampling techniques, such as endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) or endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) needle aspiration, transbronchial biopsy, and transthoracic image guided core needle biopsy. These modalities have been shown to have low complication rates, and provide adequate cellular material for pathologic diagnosis and necessary ancillary molecular testing. It is important to understand how a small amount of biopsy material obtained using minimally invasive techniques is processed and evaluated by pathologists. An important condition is obtaining a sufficient number of cell or tissue substrate, can reliably establish the malignant process, to determine the histologic tumor type (whether it’s adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma), carry out the immunohistochemical and molecular genetic study to determine indications for the purpose of targeted, immunotherapy and the selection of chemotherapy regimen. It is necessary to conduct a single procedure that is as gentle as possible and provides a sufficiently large amount of tissue. The method of obtaining the material should be selected individually depending on the location of the pathological formation, the patient's condition and the capabilities of the clinic.