The Society for Translational Medicine: indications and methods of percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy for diagnosis of lung cancer

In 1883, Leyden successfully performed percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) of the lung in three patients with pneumonia according the records (1); three years later, Menetrier was the first recorded to employ this technique for the diagnosis of lung cancer (2).