What is biopsy?

Biopsy is small day care procedure where the doctor introduces a small needle in to the tumor and takes tumor tissue for microscopic examination

Why is Biopsy Required?

There are more than 50 types of bone tumors. Treatment of each tumor is different. Few tumors can be treated without surgery, few can be managed alone with surgery and some need combination of treatment like chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy. So Biopsy helps us to know the accurate type of cancer, subtype and even grade of cancer thus helps us to give the proper treatment

How Biopsy is done?

In Biopsy, a small needle is introduced in to the tumor through a 1-2 mm skin incision and tumor sample is sent for microscopic examination. It helps in accurate diagnosis of cancer, to know subtype and grade of the tumor. It is very important to know the above details because treatment of each tumour is different.

Is biopsy Painful?

No. Biopsy is done as a day care procedure under local anaesthesia rarely under general anaesthesia. Usually biopsy procedure takes 10-15 mins.

Who has to do biopsy?

Biopsy has to be done by trained Oncosurgeon at a specialised cancer centre. Improperly done biopsy can cause major complications including an amputation.

Does Cancer spread by doing biopsy?

It is a big myth. Cancer doest spread with biopsy

How much time is required for biopsy report?

Usually it takes 3-4 days to process the tissue and to get final report. It may take additional time if special tests like Immunohistochemistry or translocation studies are required.

What is image guided biopsy?

If the tumor is located in inassessable area and if we need to target particular area in tumor, we take the help of ultrasonography, CT scan or PET CT scan.