FRIDAY, Jan. 9, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer biopsies do not cause the disease to spread, says a new study that dispels a common myth.
"This study shows that physicians and patients should feel reassured that a biopsy is very safe," said study senior investigator Dr. Michael Wallace, a gastroenterologist and professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.
The study included more than 2,000 people with pancreatic cancer. Those who received a biopsy using a technique called fine needle aspiration lived longer and had better outcomes than those who did not have a biopsy.
"We do millions of biopsies of cancer a year in the U.S., but one or two case studies have led to this common myth that biopsies spread cancer," Wallace said in a clinic news release.
The findings in the Jan. 9 online issue of the journal Gut are likely to apply to other cancers because fine needle aspiration is used to biopsy many types of tumors, Wallace said.
In fine needle aspiration, a thin, hollow needle is used to extract cells from a tumor.
Wallace said that biopsies provide "very valuable information that allows us to tailor treatment. In some cases, we can offer chemotherapy and radiation before surgery for a better outcome, and in other cases, we can avoid surgery and other therapy altogether."
More information
The Radiological Society of North America has more about biopsies.
SOURCE: Mayo Clinic, news release, Jan. 9, 2015
http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-researchers-find-cancer-biopsies-do-not-promote-cancer-spread/
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译文 by 医学专业新闻 :
来自美国梅奥诊所的一项研究证实，针对癌症的活检不会导致癌症播散。该研究发表在Gut杂志。
该研究的主要作者，梅奥诊所的胃肠道学家和医学教授Dr. Michael Wallace说：“这项研究让医生和患者都可以安心，因为活检是安全的。”
在这项纳入超过2000名胰腺癌患者的研究中，作者发现对于接受了细针抽吸活检的患者，可以存活更长的时间且转归更好。Wallace说：“美国每年都有数百万例活检，但极少数的研究引起人们对活检促进癌症播散的担心。”
该研究也同样适用于其它种类的癌症，因为细针抽吸活检是最常用的活检手段。
Wallace医生表示，活检可以提供极具价值的信息，医生可以据此制定治疗方案。他说：“在一些病例里，我们可以根据活检结果在术前开始放化疗；有的时候我们甚至可以据此避免手术，或综合多种方案。”
