Kindly tell me if there is any alternative to bronchoscopy to get tissue for testing cancer.

Hello doctor,

I have a family friend that recently was admitted to hospital for shortness of breath. She was advised that after several examinations that she has a form of cancer. The information that we were provided with was that they were unable to ascertain where or how severe the cancer was. Some confusion over whether it was thyroid or lung cancer and also its placement. The advice given was for her to undertake a bronchoscopy in order to do a biopsy of the lung. She had complications as a result of the bronchoscopy and was put in ICU for observation. That was last week, we have now been told that she will not recover and is too weak to breathe for herself and fight cancer. They have given her 48 hours. I really would like a second opinion because I feel we have not been told the full story. Would you recommend this procedure despite knowing that a patient was under stress with her breathing? Was there another way they could have gone about retrieving what they needed through a different procedure? I just want to quiet the nagging thoughts I have because I feel like this should have been a simple day proceedure.