[Early diagnosis of lung cancer]

268 patients with suspected lung cancer were examined over the period 1 January 1972 to 31 May 1974. On the basis of the 735 investigations performed, a 6-8 h workup program has been established including physical and functional examination, standard X-rays and hilar tomography, endoscopy and biopsy for cytologic or histologic study. Several biopsy technics are described and their indications tabulated according to their efficiency in relation to the radiologic aspect of the lesion. The number of cases and the yield for each technic are summarized in Table 2.