Dr. Weeks’ Comment: When your doctor proposes to do a biopsy to confirm a diagnosis (“If diagnosis is the issues you need to get some tissue.”) she or he will probably tell you there is no real risk of spreading cancer – “needle track seeding”. Is that true according to the peer-reviewed scientific literature? No. The first worrisome case was reported by me in this forum in 2009 – over 9 years ago. Read on…
Risk of tumor cell seeding through biopsy and aspiration cytology
This study is an attempt to establish seeding risk and bring awareness among patients as well as health care workers. Support from more number of articles and long term follow-up of patients in whom these procedures have been performed may substantiate the results with more authority.
There are very few published data which give us information on the total number of patients undergoing biopsy or the needle procedures in given period of time and among these how many are actually showing tumor cell seeding. Hospitals, health institutions and research workers should work toward providing this data, which in reality will let us know if ‘seeding of tumor cells’ is worth all the attention.
Biopsy and aspiration cytology are the gold standards for the diagnosis of any tumor. They are age old and time tested practices. Cultivating the suggested practices while performing these procedures may make them risk proof.
AND SEE OTHER ARTICLES RAISING THE SAME CONCERNS..
Similar articles in PubMed
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19701680
A case of mucinous carcinoma of the breast in which needle tract seeding was diagnosed by preoperative diagnostic imaging.
Abstract
Herein we report a 62-year-old woman with an excisable breast tumor in whom needle tract seeding was suspected during preoperative ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A tumor of the right breast was observed during initial examination, and she was referred to our hospital after fine-needle aspiration cytology led to diagnosis of breast cancer, even though core needle biopsy results were negative. Mammography showed a high-density mass with a portion of the margin exhibiting very fine serrations. Ultrasonography revealed a circular mass with a border that was indistinct in some regions, and a hypoechoic band that extended from the tumor toward the skin. A mass was observed on MRI, with a linear enhancement extending on the skin side, and needle tract seeding was suspected. Fine-needle aspiration cytology revealed malignancy, and the histological appearance was consistent with mucinous carcinoma. T1cN0M0 stage I breast cancer was diagnosed, and wide excision and sentinel lymph node biopsy were performed. The skin directly above the tumor was concurrently excised to remove the biopsy puncture site. Histopathological diagnosis confirmed mucinous carcinoma, with the tumor observed to extend linearly into the subcutaneous adipose tissue in a pattern corresponding to the biopsy puncture site. The stump of the excised breast was negative for cancer cells. The possibility of tumor seeding must be considered during fine-needle aspiration cytology and biopsy. As demonstrated in this case, diagnosis of such seeding through preoperative imaging may enable extraction of the entire lesion, including the needle tract.
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Comparison of ultrasound-guided core biopsy versus fine-needle aspiration biopsy in the evaluation of salivary gland lesions.
Abstract
Ultrasound-guided core biopsy provides many benefits compared with fine-needle aspiration cytology and has begun to emerge as part of the diagnostic work-up for a salivary gland lesion. Although the increased potential for tumor-seeding and capsule rupture has been extensively discussed, the safety of this procedure is widely accepted based on infrequent reports of tumor-seeding. In fact, a review of the literature shows only 2 cases of salivary tumor seeding following biopsy with larger-gauge needle characteristics, with 2 reported cases of salivary tumor seeding following fine-needle aspiration cytology. However, the follow-up interval of such studies (<7 years) is substantially less than the 20-year follow-up typically necessary to detect remote recurrence. Studies on tumor recurrence of pleomorphic adenoma, the most common salivary gland lesion, suggest that as many as 16% of tumor recurrences occur at least 10 years following initial surgery, with average time to recurrence ranging anywhere from 6.1 to 11.8 years postoperatively. Despite the benefits of ultrasound-guided core biopsy over fine-needle aspiration biopsy, which include both improved consistency and diagnostic accuracy, current studies lack adequate patient numbers and follow-up duration to confirm comparable safety profile to currently accepted fine-needle aspiration cytology. In this report we: (1) compare the relative benefits of each procedure, (2) review evidence regarding tumor seeding in each procedure, (3) discuss time course and patient numbers necessary to detect tumor recurrence, and (4) describe how these uncertainties should be factored into clinical considerations.