The pathological classification and diagnostic criteria for lung neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) in the 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) lung tumor classification are similar to the prior classifications. However, the advances on the molecular studies of lung NENs have shown that both small cell lung carcinoma and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma are highly heterogeneous tumors with neuroendocrine characteristics and can be subclassified based on the features of genomics or transcriptomics, which are valuable in the diagnosis of lung NENs subtypes and patient treatment. In addition, it is necessary to interpret emerging concepts such as "lung neuroendocrine tumor G3" and "histological transformation" from pathological perspectives, as well as to know the novel neuroendocrine biomarkers such as INSM1 and POU2F3. This article summarized the diagnostic changes and the advances of molecular pathology of lung NENs based on the latest WHO classification and molecular research.
2021版WHO肺肿瘤分类中肺神经内分泌肿瘤的病理分型和诊断标准较之前无显著变化。但近年来的分子病理研究表明，肺小细胞癌和大细胞神经内分泌癌均是具有神经内分泌特征的高度异质性肿瘤，可以通过基因组或转录组的关键特征进行分子分型，对肿瘤亚型诊断以及指导患者治疗有重要参考价值。此外，“肺神经内分泌瘤G3”和“组织学转化”等新兴概念如何从病理角度进行解读以及INSM1和POU2F3等新型神经内分泌标志物应用等也需要了解和认知。本文结合2021版WHO分类和新近相关分子病理进展，对肺神经内分泌肿瘤诊断变化和分子分型进行评述。.