The value of autofluorescence bronchoscopy in the diagnosis of early lung cancer

Objective Lung cancer is one of the most common oncologic diseases in Lithuania, especially among males. It is a solid tumour with a poor prognosis due to rapid progression. Unfortunately, most cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Lung cancer morbidity in Lithuania is 38.3 / 100000 inhabitants (69.2 / 100000 among males and 11.4 / 100000 among females) (2010). The prognosis of lung cancer treatment could be better if it were diagnosed at an early stage of the disease. Autofluorescence bronchoscopy can help to find bronchial mucosa lesions which were not seen with a white light bronchoscope. This method has a higher sensitivity but a lower specificity. The study presents – to share our experience in using autofluorescence bronchoscopy, to evaluate its sensitivity and specificity. Methods From 15 September 2009 till 25 May 2011, there were 87 patients examined with autofluorescence bronchoscopy at the Vilnius University Institute of Oncology. The data were evaluated retrospectively. Results We examined 87 patients by autofluorescence bronchoscopy: 59 with lung cacner, 5 with esophageal cancer, 7 with other malignant diseases, and 16 with benign diseases. White-light and autofluorescence bronchoscopy sensitivity was 0.83 and 0.87, respectively. The specificity was 0.68 in both methods. Conclusions Autofluorescence bronchoscopy is a safe, useful diagnostic method allowing to evaluate endobronchial tumour spread when planning surgical resection. We found white-light and autofluorescence bronchoscopy sensitivity to be 0.83 and 0.87, respectively, which correlate with data of other authors. Autofluorescence bronchoscopy is preferable when diagnosing early-stage lung cancer or precancerous lesions