I read the following statement at the American Cancer Society website. "Needle biopsy is not recommended by most doctors for GISTs. Although needle biopsies are safe to use in most cancers, many doctors feel they are dangerous in GISTs because they might spread the cancer cells."
Could seeding of tumor cells along the track of the biopsy needle result in new tumors?
GSI put this question to Christopher Corless, MD PhD, who is Professor of Pathology at Oregon Health & Science University.
He completed his medical and graduate school training at Washington University, St. Louis, and his residency in Anatomic Pathology at Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston. In addition to serving as Director of the Cancer Pathology Shared Resource for the OHSU Cancer Institute, Dr. Corless pursues research on immunohistochemical and molecular testing to novel therapeutic targets. He has co-authored dozens of groundbreaking scientific papers concerning the mutations and cell-signalling paths involved in GISTs and the response of GISTs to drug treatments. You can learn more about Dr. Corless and his work at the Heinrich-Corless Laboratories website
ANSWER FROM DR. CORLESS:
"The objective of a biopsy is to obtain enough tissue/cells to make or confirm a diagnosis of GIST (or perhaps to rule it out). Obviously, pathologists are the ...
