Clinical and Molecular Findings in Patients With Cervical/Supraclavicular Metastasis From Non-small-cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

Despite the availability of highly effective endoscopy-based and computed tomography (CT)-based biopsy procedures, up to 50% of patients with advanced lung cancer potentially eligible for targeted therapies or immunotherapy do not have access to a diagnosis or to a thorough molecular profiling for different reasons. Enlarged and/or positron emission tomography (PET) positive cervical/supraclavicular lymph nodes (CSLs) are ideal targets for a minimally invasive diagnosis of lung cancer through a percutaneous ultrasound-guided biopsy (US-NAB). However, the prevalence of metastatic involvement of CSLs in patients with advanced lung cancer was never specifically assessed. Furthermore, the possible association of malignant CSLs involvement with molecular status was never investigated, unlike what was done for several other metastatic sites.

Inclusion Criteria:Age >18 years at the time of the procedure;Suspected advanced, treatment naïve non-squamous NSCLC ;Indication to biopsy for diagnosis and/or molecular profiling;Written informed consent to the study participation.Exclusion Criteria:Patients with known non-squamous NSCLC sent for re-biopsy after first or second line treatment;Inability to stop anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy before the procedure (except acetylsalicylic acid 100 mg/day);Platelet count <50.000 per μL;Inability or unwillingness to provide a written informed consent.