Core needle biopsy may be good for kids

MEMPHIS, Jul 21, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Minimally invasive solid tumor core-needle biopsy guided by CT or ultrasound scans may replace surgery to obtain samples of pediatric solid tumors.

Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis say inserting biopsy needles through the skin appears to be a safe and reliable alternative to surgery in children.

In addition, study findings contradict the belief of many pediatric surgeons that the technique is more likely than surgery to dislodge cells from the tumor and cause the cancer to spread.

Substituting percutaneous core biopsy for surgery would eliminate the need for children to recover from an operation, which delays chemotherapy for their cancer, said Dr. Fredric Hoffer, lead author of the study.

"This technique is already commonly used to diagnose solid tumors in adults," said Hoffer. "Our own study now shows this technique appears to be suitable for children as well."

He said the only disadvantage to the technique is that there is only a small amount of tissue remaining for tumor banking (saving the tumor for future studies) after allocating enough for laboratory analysis.

The study appears in the Aug. 1 issue of Cancer.