Investigations to be considered in patients who are candidates for surgery or multimodal treatment
| Area | Investigation | Comment | Confirmatory tests |
| Pulmonary function tests | DL,CO in addition to FVC and FEV1 | Assessment similar to the one for lung cancer | Lung scintigraphy probably performed as for any pulmectomy |
| Primary tumour | Adequate biopsy for histological subtyping | ||
| Diaphragm | CT scan or MRI | ||
| Extra-thoracic, to exclude “occult” M1 | FDG-PET/CTLaparoscopy | According to institutional practice | Biopsy of suspected extrathoracic lesions |
| Mediastinum, excluding T4, N2/3 involvement | Cervical mediastinoscopy | According to institutional practice | |
| VATS, contra lateral VATS | |||
| MRI of the chest, gadolinium enhanced | |||
| E(B)US-FNA | Investigational |
DL,CO: diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide; FVC; forced vital capacity; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; CT: computed tomography; MRI: magnetic resonance imaging; FDG-PET: 18-Fluor-2-deoxy-glucose positron emission tomography; VATS: video-assisted thoracic surgery; E(B)US-FNA: enobronchial ultrasound-fine needle aspiration.