Imaging Recommendations for Image-Guided Biopsy in Oncology

The percutaneous needle biopsy (PNB) is the initial step for obtaining the diagnosis and it helps in treatment. It aids in primary diagnosis, tumor staging, or ruling out infective etiology. It is a safe and successful minimally invasive method compared to open biopsies. PNB is defined as the placement and insertion of a needle into a suspected lesion or organ with the intent of retrieving tissue or cells for diagnosis. It can fine needle aspiration cytology or core needle biopsy. The patient needs to be counseled regarding the procedure and detailed history, including anticoagulant history needs to be taken. The SIR consensus guidelines have divided biopsies into low-risk procedures with a bleeding risk of < 1.5% and high-risk procedures > 1.5%. There are advancements in needle design (e.g., echogenic tip while performing ultrasound-guided needle biopsy) and image-guidance technology (ultrasound quality, multi-slice CT scan) that improved these procedures safety and efficacy. There are different types of needles available such as coaxial, aspiration needles, Murphy's bone biopsy needle, which depends on the tissue which needs to be sampled or the organ to be biopsied. Various different types of biopsy guns, such as semi-automatic, automatic, or manual are available. The newer technology such as fusion and navigation biopsies helps in better characterizing and localization of the lesion, improving the yield of the biopsy. Open and excisional biopsies have a higher mortality and morbidity rate than percutaneous biopsies, they are reserved for cases where the image-guided method has failed to provide the diagnostic yield. Sample collection must be done under a sterile container in formaline or microbiological examination. Regular analysis and rad-path correlation are key to success and improving diagnostic yield. This abstract provides an overview of the existing biopsy literature.