Current Concepts in Pulmonary Pathology
Pulmonary Pathology Integral to Clinical Decision Making
Sanja Dacic, MD, PhD Guest Editor
graphic correlation in diagnosis of interstitial lung diseases is emphasized in the article, ‘‘Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis’’ and contains comprehensive radiographic and histologic illustrations. Many articles are focused on neoplasia, which is undergoing significant changes in histologic classification, in particular upcoming classification of adenocarcinoma. The article, ‘‘Lung Carcinoma Staging Problems’’ provides the update, as 7th American Joint Committee on Cancer staging manual (AJCC) tumor staging is being implemented into clinical practice this year. Molecular diagnostics of lung tumors constitutes an integral part of any lung adenocarcinoma or nonsquamous cell carcinoma diagnostic work-up. Currently available targeted therapies, diagnostic assays used in clinical laboratories for molecular profiling of lung carcinomas, and morphologicmolecular correlations are discussed in detail. New discoveries continue to change our practice daily and their implementation into clinical practice is much faster than any of us expected. This publication is intended to provide a quick reference for experienced, practicing pathologists and pathologists-in-training with key gross and microscopic features, differential diagnosis, and prognosis of common entities in lung pathology.
Surgical Pathology 3 (2010) ix–x doi:10.1016/j.path.2010.03.008 1875-9181/10/$ – see front matter ª 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
surgpath.theclinics.com
Diseases of the lung and pleura may be challenging for practicing general surgical pathologists. This has became more obvious in recent years as we all witness the transformation of medicine into many highly specialized areas targeting different organ systems and even a single disease. Lung and pleural pathology falls into a category of a highly specialized area of surgical pathology because of many unique diseases that are not encountered in other organ systems. Pulmonary pathology is more than ever an integral part of clinical decision making and patient management. Clinicopathologic-radiographic correlations are necessary for classification of interstitial lung diseases. Lung cancer is still the most common cancer in the world, and histologic diagnosis is frequently straightforward; however, its treatment is currently undergoing unseen revolutionary changes that place new demands on practicing pathologists who should be aware of advances in molecular diagnostics of lung tumors that play a major role in triaging lung cancer patients for adequate therapies. The topics selected for ‘‘Current Concepts in Pulmonary Pathology’’ are a reflection of the most common questions and diagnostic dilemmas in pulmonary pathology today. Significance of radio-
x
Pulmonary Pathology Integral to Clinical Decision Making Surgical pathology requires visual recognition of variety of patterns, and, therefore, numerous representative illustrations are provided. Key features, differential diagnosis, and the pitfalls inherent in each entity are summarized in boxes; this condensed text should be useful for busy pathologists. I would like to thank all authors who shared their expertise in pulmonary pathology and provided reviews of the spectrum of neoplastic and nonneoplastic lung diseases that represent the current diagnostic standard in pulmonary pathology. I would also like to thank the Editor of the Surgical Pathology Clinics series, Joanne
Husovski, for her tremendous patience and excellent guidance.
Sanja Dacic, MD, PhD FISH Laboratory Department of Pathology-PUH C608 University of Pittsburgh 200 Lothrop Street Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA E-mail address: [email protected]
Pulmonary Pathology Integral to Clinical Decision Making
Sanja Dacic, MD, PhD Guest Editor
graphic correlation in diagnosis of interstitial lung diseases is emphasized in the article, ‘‘Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis’’ and contains comprehensive radiographic and histologic illustrations. Many articles are focused on neoplasia, which is undergoing significant changes in histologic classification, in particular upcoming classification of adenocarcinoma. The article, ‘‘Lung Carcinoma Staging Problems’’ provides the update, as 7th American Joint Committee on Cancer staging manual (AJCC) tumor staging is being implemented into clinical practice this year. Molecular diagnostics of lung tumors constitutes an integral part of any lung adenocarcinoma or nonsquamous cell carcinoma diagnostic work-up. Currently available targeted therapies, diagnostic assays used in clinical laboratories for molecular profiling of lung carcinomas, and morphologicmolecular correlations are discussed in detail. New discoveries continue to change our practice daily and their implementation into clinical practice is much faster than any of us expected. This publication is intended to provide a quick reference for experienced, practicing pathologists and pathologists-in-training with key gross and microscopic features, differential diagnosis, and prognosis of common entities in lung pathology.
Surgical Pathology 3 (2010) ix–x doi:10.1016/j.path.2010.03.008 1875-9181/10/$ – see front matter ª 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
surgpath.theclinics.com
Diseases of the lung and pleura may be challenging for practicing general surgical pathologists. This has became more obvious in recent years as we all witness the transformation of medicine into many highly specialized areas targeting different organ systems and even a single disease. Lung and pleural pathology falls into a category of a highly specialized area of surgical pathology because of many unique diseases that are not encountered in other organ systems. Pulmonary pathology is more than ever an integral part of clinical decision making and patient management. Clinicopathologic-radiographic correlations are necessary for classification of interstitial lung diseases. Lung cancer is still the most common cancer in the world, and histologic diagnosis is frequently straightforward; however, its treatment is currently undergoing unseen revolutionary changes that place new demands on practicing pathologists who should be aware of advances in molecular diagnostics of lung tumors that play a major role in triaging lung cancer patients for adequate therapies. The topics selected for ‘‘Current Concepts in Pulmonary Pathology’’ are a reflection of the most common questions and diagnostic dilemmas in pulmonary pathology today. Significance of radio-
x
Pulmonary Pathology Integral to Clinical Decision Making Surgical pathology requires visual recognition of variety of patterns, and, therefore, numerous representative illustrations are provided. Key features, differential diagnosis, and the pitfalls inherent in each entity are summarized in boxes; this condensed text should be useful for busy pathologists. I would like to thank all authors who shared their expertise in pulmonary pathology and provided reviews of the spectrum of neoplastic and nonneoplastic lung diseases that represent the current diagnostic standard in pulmonary pathology. I would also like to thank the Editor of the Surgical Pathology Clinics series, Joanne
Husovski, for her tremendous patience and excellent guidance.
Sanja Dacic, MD, PhD FISH Laboratory Department of Pathology-PUH C608 University of Pittsburgh 200 Lothrop Street Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA E-mail address: [email protected]
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