Importance and value of a preoperative diagnosis in oat cell carcinoma by radiography and its verification by fine needle biopsy (FNB).

Surgical resection currently offers the best hope of cure in Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), while chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy is the primary choice for Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC). The preoperative diagnosis of small cell anaplastic carcinoma (oat cell carcinoma) therefore is extremely important for adequate patient management treatment and prognosis. The patients history, clinical findings and radiographic patterns are all important for the differential diagnosis of SCLC (oat cell cancer) constituting a clinical, radiological and histopathological entity. FNB is a minor, fast, safe, inexpensive procedure, which is easy to perform, not uncomfortable for the patient and which, due to high accuracy may confirm or exclude SCLC (oat cell cancer). Major surgery with its inherent risk of morbidity/mortality may such be avoided allowing to choose the optimal and most appropriate form of alternative treatment permitting a high quality of life during the course of the disease. In a series of 2726 patients with 5300 FNB, of which 1264 (46%) showed evidence of malignancy SCLC (oat cell carcinoma) was cytologically diagnosed in 54 cases (6%). No serious complication occurred.