Advances in cytopathology for lung cancer: the impact and challenges of new technologies

Despite recent advances in treatment modalities, the survival rate of patients with lung cancer has not significantly improved. Therefore, new avenues are being explored in the era of evolving personalized patient management by early detection. Cytology is now the mainstay to address the diagnostic needs of pulmonary malignancies. Cytology specimens deliver diagnostic results equivalent to tissue biopsies. Fine-needle aspirations are equally useful to perform diagnostic, predictive, and prognostic immunohistochemical markers and molecular analysis. This article reviews the main new technologies that produced this revolution. The new role of the cytopathologist in this time of interdisciplinary care is also discussed.