Utility of auto fluorescence-guided biopsy in suspected lung cancer patients with bronchial mucosal lesions.

• 1.Fluorescence-guided biopsy had higher sensitivity (60.3 %) than white light bronchoscopy (45.2 %) for diagnosing lung cancer in patients with bronchial mucosal lesions. • 2.The specificity of fluorescence-guided biopsy was significantly higher (100 %) compared to white light bronchoscopy (69.6 %), indicating greater accuracy in ruling out lung cancer. • 3.The positive predictive value of fluorescence-guided biopsy was higher (100 %) than white light bronchoscopy (74.3 %), suggesting more reliable identification of lung cancer. • 4.Fluorescence-guided biopsy had a higher negative predictive value (56.3 %) compared to white light bronchoscopy (39.4 %), indicating better ability to rule out lung cancer. Bronchoscopy is currently the most common technique for lung cancer diagnosis. Patients suspected of malignancy often undergo bronchoscopic examination, and biopsy is routinely used in patients with visible bronchial lesions. However, it is difficult to differentially diagnose lung cancer in patients with bronchial mucosal lesions. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate the utility of fluorescence-guided biopsy in suspected lung cancer patients with bronchial mucosal lesions. We conducted a retrospective study in a single screening center to assess the sensitivity and specificity of fluorescence-guided biopsy compared with white light bronchoscopy (WLB) in patients with bronchial mucosal lesions. A total of 301 patients with bronchial mucosal lesions were enrolled in this study. The sensitivity for patients with fluorescence-guided biopsy was 60.3 % (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 53.1 %–67.1 %), which was higher than that of patients with WLB alone (45.2 %, 95 % CI: 38.2–52.4 %) (P = 0.0026). Additionally, compared with the WLB group, the fluorescence -guided biopsy group was found to have a significantly higher specificity (100 %, 95 % CI: 95.5–100 % versus 69.6 %, 95 % CI: 59.6–78.1 %), positive predictive value (100 %, 95 % CI: 96.1–100 % versus 74.3 %, 95 % CI: 65.5–81.7 %) and negative predictive value (56.3 %, 95 % CI: 48.8–63.6 % versus 39.4 %, 95 % CI: 32.3–47.0 %). Fluorescence-guided biopsy can serve as an important adjunct to WLB for the differential diagnosis of lung cancer in patients with bronchial mucosal lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]