The location, histologic type, and stage of lung cancer are associated with bleeding during endobronchial biopsy

Several risk factors have been proposed for bleeding during bronchoscopy, including immunosuppression, thrombocytopenia, pulmonary arterial hypertension, and mechanical ventilation. However, research on bronchoscopic biopsy-induced bleeding in the population of lung cancer without these "proposed risk factors" remains lacking.

A total of 531 lung cancer patients with endobronchial biopsy (EBB) were enrolled in this retrospective observational study. Patients were divided into biopsy-induced bleeding group (n=162) and non-bleeding group (n=369). Using multiple logistic regression, independent risk factors for EBB bleeding were identified.

The location, histologic type, and stage of lung cancer were independently associated with EBB bleeding, as assessed by multiple logistic regression (p<0.05) in patients with lung cancer. Moreover, during EBB, the risk of bleeding of endobronchial lesions located in the central airways was significantly higher when compared to that in peripheral bronchi (odds ratio [OR], 2.211; 95% CI, 1.276-3.830; p=0.005). In addition, squamous cell carcinoma and small-cell lung carcinoma were more susceptible to bleeding during biopsy when compared with adenocarcinoma (OR, 3.107, 2.389; 95% CI, 1.832-5.271, 1.271-4.489; p=0.000, p=0.007, respectively). Patients with advanced lung cancer were more prone to EBB bleeding compared to patients in the early stages of disease (OR, 1.583; 95% CI, 1.065-2.354; p=0.023).

Lesions located in the central airways, histologic types of squamous cell carcinoma and small-cell lung carcinoma, and stages of advanced lung cancer were the independent risk factors for hemorrhage in EBB.