As an alternative to mediastinal surgery, researchers found endoscopic biopsy of lymph nodes between the two lungs (mediastinum) is a sensitive and accurate technique.
Moreover, the study showed that it is not necessary to perform surgery to confirm negative results obtained through the endoscopic approach during the pre-operative evaluation of patients with this type of cancer. This discovery has many advantages for both the patients and the health-care system.
The study conducted by Dr. Liberman’s team involved 166 patients with confirmed or suspected non small cell lung cancer, and was designed to compare the new approach to surgical staging under general anesthesia, as prescribed in current guidelines for this type of cancer. The findings, which were recently published in CHEST Journal.
