Will puncture accelerate tumor deterioration?

Biopsy is a very common examination in life. It is usually used to examine many uncertain diseases. Many people worry that biopsy will accelerate the spread of cancer cells. In fact, biopsy is only to make a clear diagnosis and formulate a reasonable treatment plan for the patient. It will not cause the tumor to worsen. In fact, there are many reasons that lead to tumor worsening. Cancer patients usually need to have a good attitude during treatment.

Will puncture accelerate tumor progression?

We all know that B-ultrasound, X-ray, CT, and MRI are the most common medical examination methods. They can detect most lesions when used alone or in combination. However, when these methods that work on the outside of the body are unable to confirm the diagnosis, a method that can reach inside the body is needed to help solve the case. This is the meaning of needle biopsy.

From a diagnostic perspective, imaging diagnosis is only a preliminary judgment made by the doctor based on experience. The final diagnosis requires the "pathological results" obtained by a puncture biopsy, which is called the "gold standard" for diagnosis.

From a treatment perspective, even if a diagnosis can be made based solely on imaging results, it is impossible to determine the pathological classification and the presence or absence of mutations, and subsequent treatment will become blind accordingly. Pathological results can provide a comprehensive and in-depth "interpretation" of the disease, and thus can better guide treatment.

Why do many patients still resist biopsy, which is so considerate and powerful? On the one hand, it is because of fear; on the other hand, they are worried that the puncture will puncture the tumor, irritate the tumor, and cause metastasis and spread.

Does puncture really bring the risk of spreading and metastasis?

A large number of studies at home and abroad have shown that the risk of diffusion and metastasis caused by puncture is less than a few thousandths, which is a rare event with extremely low probability and can be almost ignored. Of course, this risk cannot be reduced to zero, but this is normal. There is no ideal event with zero risk in this world.

The reason why people think that biopsy can cause tumor metastasis is that cancer screening was not so popular in the past, imaging examinations were not so complete, and the understanding of cancer was not enough. Many patients were already in the middle or late stages when diagnosed with cancer, and when biopsy was performed at this time, many conditions were in the process of accelerated deterioration, so people would naturally mistakenly associate it with "the puncture causing the tumor metastasis."

In other words, the puncture biopsy took the blame for the advanced tumor.