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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譯文 by 醫學專業新聞 :
來自美國梅奧診所的一項研究證實，針對癌症的活檢不會導致癌症播散。該研究發表在Gut雜誌。
該研究的主要作者，梅奧診所的胃腸道學家和醫學教授Dr. Michael Wallace說：“這項研究讓醫生和患者都可以安心，因為活檢是安全的。”
在這項納入超過2000名胰腺癌患者的研究中，作者發現對於接受了細針抽吸活檢的患者，可以存活更長的時間且轉歸更好。Wallace說：“美國每年都有數百萬例活檢，但極少數的研究引起人們對活檢促進癌症播散的擔心。”
該研究也同樣適用於其它種類的癌症，因為細針抽吸活檢是最常用的活檢手段。
Wallace醫生表示，活檢可以提供極具價值的信息，醫生可以據此製定治療方案。他說：“在一些病例裏，我們可以根據活檢結果在術前開始放化療；有的時候我們甚至可以據此避免手術，或綜合多種方案。”
