Lung Cancer and Mediastinal Tumors

Many studies including randomized trials have demonstrated a major impact of transesophageal ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) on management of patients with lung cancer and patients with undiagnosed lesions in the lungs and the mediastinum. Implementation of endosonography in lung cancer staging protocols reduces surgical staging by at least half and prevents futile thoracotomies. It is expected that the combination of EUS-FNA and endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) will replace surgical staging in the vast majority of lung cancer patients in a near future. Furthermore, a growing number of studies have demonstrated that a variety of other mediastinal lesions can be diagnosed by endosonography, for example, tuberculosis, lymphoma, sarcoidosis, and metastases from primary tumors such as renal cancer, breast cancer, and pancreatic cancer. This edition first published 2013