Revised World Health Organization Classification of Lung Tumours. Important changes and implications.

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently published the newest edition of their WHO Classification of Tumours of the Lung, Pleura, Thymus and Heart [1]. The previous edition was published in 2004, which is a relatively long time span considering the advances in diagnostics and treatment, especially in the field of lung cancer. This article focuses on the main changes applying to the diagnosis of lung cancer from the pathologist’s point of view, including subsequent clinical implications. Beforehand it should be noted that the seminal interdisciplinary publication regarding the classification of Adenocarcinomas of the lung, published in 2011 by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer/American ThoracicSociety/European Respiratory Society, has largely been adopted, with minor modifications [2].