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Introduction: There is a clear need to develop a practical approach to obtain high quality RNA for gene expression analysis from lung cancer patients. Current approaches are restricted to using material from surgical resection specimens. We systematically investigated whether high quality RNA could be obtained from routine lung cancer diagnostic biopsies to determine the optimum method., Methods: Extra biopsies were taken at diagnosis from patients later confirmed to have lung cancer. Comparisons were made between RNA extracted from samples snap frozen in liquid nitrogen and those treated with an RNA preservative before freezing. Further comparisons were made between biopsies taken by different methods., Results: Acceptable RNA for gene expression analysis was extracted from 72% of lung cancer biopsies. Use of an RNA preservative for storage allowed the extraction of higher quality, more intact RNA from biopsies gathered by both endobronchial forceps and transbronchial needle aspiration. High quality RNA could also be extracted from computed tomography-guided needle core biopsies., Conclusion: Banking lung cancer biopsy specimens by storage in an RNA preservative solution will allow use of a broader spectrum of lung cancers for gene expression analysis. We describe a model that makes personalized medicine for lung cancer patients a more practical proposition.

Introduction: To determine the sensitivity and accuracy of endobronchial ultrasound guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) for clarification of the nature of fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG) positive hilar and/or mediastinal lymph nodes in patients with (suspected) lung cancer., Methods: All consecutive patients who had undergone EBUS-TBNA alone for assessment of abnormal FDG-uptake in hilar and/or mediastinal lymph nodes between January 2005 and August 2007 were reviewed., Results: One-hundred-nine patients underwent EBUS-TBNA of 127 positron emission tomography positive lymph nodes. Hilar (station 10 or 11) nodes (N1 or N3) were aspirated in 26 patients and mediastinal (stations 2, 4, 7) nodes (N2 or N3) in 90 patients. In 7 patients both hilar and mediastinal nodes were sampled. There were no procedure-related complications. Malignancy was detected in 77 (71%) cases. Thirty-two patients were tumor negative by EBUS-TBNA; subsequent surgical biopsy in 19 showed malignancy in 7. In four cases the false negative result was due to sampling error and in three cases due to detection error. In 13 cases surgical staging was not performed although long term follow-up in 3 showed no evidence of malignancy. The sensitivity and accuracy of EBUS-TBNA for malignancy in patients with reference pathology was 91% and 92%, respectively. The negative predictive value was 60%. If the 10 cases for which confirmatory surgical staging was not performed are assumed to be false negative results, overall sensitivity and accuracy were 82% and 84%, respectively., Conclusions: EBUS-TBNA offers an effective accurate, minimally invasive strategy for evaluating FDG avid hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes. However, negative findings should be confirmed by surgical staging.

Background: Obtaining a tissue diagnosis of malignancy is challenging in patients with suspected lung cancer presenting with centrally located intrapulmonary masses., Objective: (1) To evaluate the yield of endobronchial ultrasound with real-time guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) for diagnosing centrally located lesions after a non-diagnostic conventional bronchoscopy. (2) To assess the impact of EBUS-TBNA on patient management for this indication., Study Design and Patients: A retrospective analysis of a series of patients with a central parenchymal lung lesion suspected to be lung cancer who had been referred to three university hospitals for EBUS-TBNA to obtain a tissue diagnosis was undertaken. If EBUS-TBNA did not result in a formal pathological diagnosis of malignancy, patients were subsequently referred for a transthoracic needle aspiration biopsy or a surgical diagnostic procedure., Results: Sixty patients were investigated with EBUS-TBNA. The majority (82%) had a prior (non-diagnostic) flexible bronchoscopy. EBUS-TBNA was performed in an out-patient setting in 97%. With ultrasound, the primary lung lesion was observed in all cases. EBUS-TBNA confirmed lung cancer in 46 (77%). A final reference pathology diagnosis was available in 59 (98%) cases. The sensitivity of EBUS-TBNA for diagnosing lung cancer was 82% (95% confidence intervals (CI) 69-91%) with a negative predictive value of 23% (95%CI 5-53%). Based on the EBUS-TBNA findings, transthoracic needle aspiration biopsy or a surgical diagnostic procedure was cancelled in 47% and 30% of patients, respectively. No serious procedure-related complications were reported., Conclusion: EBUS-TBNA is a sensitive tool for the diagnosis of centrally located primary lung cancer not visible at conventional bronchoscopy. Therefore, EBUS-TBNA can impact on patient management in this setting. However, the low negative predictive value indicates that a negative EBUS-TBNA result should be confirmed by other methods., Implication: EBUS-TBNA can be considered as a diagnostic test in patients with a centrally located lung lesion after a previous non-diagnostic conventional bronchoscopy.