Prospective study of combined use of bronchial aspirates and biopsy specimens in diagnosis and typing of centrally located lung tumours.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the diagnostic accuracy of examining bronchial secretions in pulmonary cytopathology and whether cytology and histopathology can complement each other in routine practice among lung specialists.

DESIGN

A prospective study comparing 1225 cytological and biopsy results, conducted during 1987-93. Tumours were confirmed by histopathology, imaging techniques, or clinical outcome and imaging techniques combined.

SETTING

11 lung or internal medicine units, France.

SUBJECTS

1128 patients (874 men; 254 women) aged 65.3 (SD 13.7) years who underwent fibreoptic bronchoscopy for various pulmonary symptoms.

RESULTS

Exact concordance between cytological and biopsy results was obtained in 1036/1187 (87.3%) satisfactory specimens. In all 574 lung tumours were diagnosed. One case (0.08%) was a false positive cytological diagnosis in a patient with tuberculosis. Patients with lung cancer were more likely to have positive cytological results than positive biopsy results (P < 0.001). Agreement in tumour typing was observed in 375/424 (88.4%) cases, when non-small cell carcinomas, small cell carcinomas and undifferentiated carcinomas were separated. In the 11 patients with squamous cell carcinomas in situ, eight (72.7%) of the carcinomas were diagnosed cytologically as squamous cell. Unsatisfactory material was obtained in only 20 (1.6%) and 19 (1.6%) cases by cytology and biopsy respectively. Examinations had to be repeated in 86 (7.6%) patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Examination of bronchial secretions complements histopathology in both diagnosing and typing lung tumours and could be performed more systematically in patients undergoing fibreoptic bronchoscopy.