Sarcoma Biopsy
Dr. Paul Meyers: There are several different techniques that are used to do a biopsy on a suspected sarcoma. We use a needle for biopsy. Biopsies can be done by open surgery, and open surgical biopsies could be either incisional, which means taking a small piece of tissue from the mass, or excisional, which means trying to remove the entire mass. We typically tend to use more open biopsies, because it allows us to get material not just for conventional pathologic examination, but also to do some specialized studies looking at the genetic composition of the material removed from the patient. This is increasingly becoming critical to determine exactly what type of sarcoma we are dealing with. It's also crucial that the biopsy be performed by the same surgeon who will ultimately be doing the definitive surgery, so that the biopsy is done in a way that does not compromise options for future surgery.