EBUS-Miniforceps Biopsy Specimen Acquisition for PD-L1 Testing in Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer: A Feasibility Study

The incorporation of PD-L1 testing into clinical practice has progressed at a rapid pace, and now offers an additional line of therapy for eligible patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer. The assay used to detect circulating levels of PD-L1 currently requires core biopsies, and is not approved to be used for specimens collected through a needle based cytological technique. Though endobronchial ultrasound guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has markedly improved the manner in which patients are diagnosed and staged for lung cancer, alternative means of tissue collection may be mandatory to offer patients access to newer lines of therapy such as PD-L1 inhibition. EBUS-miniforceps biopsy may allow bronchoscopists to obtain core biopsy specimens through the technique of endobronchial ultrasound, so that more invasive approaches such as surgery may be avoided. Feasibility using this approach would indicate that all patients being staged with endobronchial ultrasound procedures would be candidates for PD-L1 testing and potential therapy.

This study is proposed to evaluate the feasibility of using endobronchial ultrasound guided miniforceps biopsy (EBUS-MFB) to acquire tissue that is adequate for PD-L1 testing. Feasibility in this study is defined as the ability to obtain adequate material during EBUS procedures to perform PD-L1 testing.