[Diagnosis of lung cancer. Fluorescence bronchoscopy]

Autofluorescence endoscopy is used for more than ten years as an help to the diagnosis of bronchial precancerous lesions and early lung cancers. The technique has been extensively evaluated during the past decade including in two recent randomized studies versus conventional endoscopy that have shown an improvement for the localisation and the diagnosis of high grade precancerous lesions from 2 to 5 times. This paper reviews the principal applications and results of the use of autofluorescence endoscopy in high risk individuals, as well as innovative endoscopic approaches using the fluorescence properties of the respiratory tract.