Endobronchial ultrasound guided tranbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is a new technology developed in the past 10 years. In the USA, EBUS-TBNA has been recommended as an important means for preoperative lymph node staging of lung cancer, and becomes a new standard for mediastinal staging of lung cancer. A large number of clinical data shows that EBUS-TBNA is a novel approach which owes the advantages of accuracy in diagnosis and safety in operating. What's more, its value in the diagnosis of some disease in chest has been widely recognized. The aim of this article is to review the current application of EBUS-TBNA in the diagnosis of early lung cancer, diagnosis and tumor staging of advanced lung cancer, the relationship between EBUS-TBNA and traditional inspection including CT, positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET) and mediastinoscopy, and the application value of EBUS-TBNA for superior vena cava syndrome and some non-neoplastic diseases.