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Annual Congress of <strong>Malaysian</strong> <strong>Thoracic</strong> <strong>Society</strong><br />

Symposium 2A<br />

Lung Cancer<br />

The impact of new imaging and endoscopic techniques in<br />

lung cancer staging<br />

Liam Chong Kin<br />

Malaysia<br />

The stage of lung cancer is determined by the size and local invasion of the primary tumour (T1-4); whether<br />

the ipsilateral hilar (N1) and mediastinal lymph nodes (N2), contralateral hilar or mediastinal nodes (N3),<br />

or supraclavicular nodes (N3) are involved; and whether intrathoracic (M1a) or distant metastases (M1b)<br />

are present. For staging, all patients should undergo computed tomography (CT) of the thorax and upper<br />

abdomen to include the liver and adrenals. Patients with signs and symptoms of systemic metastases<br />

(eg, fatigue, weight loss, poor appetite, neurological signs and symptoms, bone pain) must be verified by<br />

imaging tests such as a brain CT or MRI and a bone scan. An exception to this approach is patients with<br />

fairly obvious metastases in whom this can be confirmed by a biopsy of a metastatic site or by a skeletal plain<br />

radiograph alone.<br />

FDG-PET is more accurate than CT for the evaluation of mediastinal involvement, offering a high negative<br />

predictive value. It can detect occult metastases in 11% of patients, although the aetiology of the extrathoracic<br />

isolated uptakes needs confirmation. The role of PET imaging is limited in patients with strong clinical signs of<br />

metastatic disease. A positive PET result in the mediastinum should be confirmed by biopsy because the false<br />

positive rate is 15 to 20%. It is unclear and controversial whether a mediastinal biopsy is needed in patients<br />

with clinical stage II lung cancer who have no PET uptake in the mediastinum. In patients with a peripheral<br />

clinical stage I lung cancer, it is reasonable not to order a PET scan for staging because the chances of finding<br />

either distant metastases or mediastinal involvement on PET imaging are quite low.<br />

Endoscopic techniques are accurate minimally invasive techniques mostly used to confirm a PET-positive<br />

finding but not for complete mediastinal staging. Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial/transtracheal<br />

needle aspiration (TBNA) (EBUS-TBNA) allows real-time controlled tissue sampling of paratracheal,<br />

subcarinal, and hilar lymph nodes. Mediastinal lymph nodes located adjacent to the esophagus can be<br />

assessed by esophageal ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA). Owing to the complementary<br />

reach of EBUS-TBNA and EUS-FNA in assessing different regions of the mediastinum, complete and accurate<br />

mediastinal staging can be achieved by the combination of both procedures. Mediastinoscopy is an invasive<br />

technique which provides a complete staging of the upper mediastinum. Implementation of minimally invasive<br />

endoscopic methods of EBUS-TBNA and EUS-FNA reduces the need for surgical staging of lung cancer.<br />

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