Accuracy of fine needle aspiration and core lung biopsies to predict histology in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Management of advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients is dependent on the histologic diagnosis for both testing and treatment. This study was designed to determine the ability of fine needle aspiration and core biopsies to correctly determine histologic diagnosis in non-small cell lung cancer. Our institutional cardiothoracic surgery database was reviewed for cases of non-small cell lung cancer treated with lobectomy after a preoperative biopsy by CT guidance or bronchoscopy over a 10-year period from 2002 to 2011.