{"entity":{"id":"biopsy","kind":"term","name":"Biopsy","aka":["biopsies","biopsied","tissue sample","tissue samples","core biopsy","needle biopsy","core needle biopsy","tissue biopsy","rebiopsy","re-biopsy","surgical biopsy","excisional biopsy","fine needle aspiration","FNA"],"tldr":"Taking a small piece of the suspicious tissue so a pathologist can examine it under the microscope. It is the only way to confirm a cancer diagnosis and to learn its type and markers.","summary":"Biopsies range from a fine needle drawing up cells, to a core needle removing a sliver of tissue, to surgical removal of the whole lesion; the sample is fixed, sliced, stained and read by a pathologist, and today also tested for protein markers and sequenced for mutations. Tissue is precious and finite, and a single biopsy samples one spot of a tumour that may vary from place to place and change over time, which is why repeat biopsies at progression and blood-based liquid biopsies have become important. Biopsies carry small risks (bleeding, infection, rarely tumour seeding) and some sites, such as the pancreas or brain, are hard to reach.","asOf":"2026-09-09","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biopsy","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biopsy"}],"tags":[],"related":["histology","ihc","genomic-profiling","ctdna","lesion","biomarker"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":["histopathology-ihc","liquid-biopsy","cgp"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Clinic basics"},"route":"/terms/biopsy/","neighbours":{"term":[{"id":"benign-vs-malignant","kind":"term","name":"Benign versus malignant","route":"/terms/benign-vs-malignant/"},{"id":"biomarker","kind":"term","name":"Biomarker","route":"/terms/biomarker/"},{"id":"ctdna","kind":"term","name":"Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA)","route":"/terms/ctdna/"},{"id":"genomic-profiling","kind":"term","name":"Genomic profiling","route":"/terms/genomic-profiling/"},{"id":"histology","kind":"term","name":"Histology","route":"/terms/histology/"},{"id":"ihc","kind":"term","name":"Immunohistochemistry (IHC)","route":"/terms/ihc/"},{"id":"lesion","kind":"term","name":"Lesion","route":"/terms/lesion/"}],"technology":[{"id":"cgp","kind":"technology","name":"Comprehensive genomic profiling","route":"/technologies/cgp/"},{"id":"histopathology-ihc","kind":"technology","name":"Histopathology & immunohistochemistry","route":"/technologies/histopathology-ihc/"},{"id":"liquid-biopsy","kind":"technology","name":"Liquid biopsy (ctDNA)","route":"/technologies/liquid-biopsy/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"nsclc","kind":"cancer","name":"Non-small-cell lung cancer","route":"/cancers/nsclc/"},{"id":"prostate","kind":"cancer","name":"Prostate cancer","route":"/cancers/prostate/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-springer-pancreatic-cyst-molecular-classification-gastroenterology-2015","kind":"paper","name":"A combination of molecular markers and clinical features improve the classification of pancreatic cysts","route":"/key-papers/paper-springer-pancreatic-cyst-molecular-classification-gastroenterology-2015/"},{"id":"paper-yu-acquired-resistance-rebiopsy-egfr-ccr-2013","kind":"paper","name":"Analysis of tumor specimens at the time of acquired resistance to EGFR-TKI therapy in 155 patients with EGFR-mutant lung cancers","route":"/key-papers/paper-yu-acquired-resistance-rebiopsy-egfr-ccr-2013/"},{"id":"paper-oxnard-osimertinib-resistance-mechanisms-jama-oncol-2018","kind":"paper","name":"Assessment of resistance mechanisms and clinical implications in patients with EGFR T790M-positive lung cancer and acquired resistance to osimertinib","route":"/key-papers/paper-oxnard-osimertinib-resistance-mechanisms-jama-oncol-2018/"},{"id":"paper-aggarwal-plasma-genotyping-personalised-therapy-jama-oncol-2019","kind":"paper","name":"Clinical implications of plasma-based genotyping with the delivery of personalized therapy in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-aggarwal-plasma-genotyping-personalised-therapy-jama-oncol-2019/"},{"id":"paper-wyatt-ctdna-tissue-concordance-mcrpc-jnci-2017","kind":"paper","name":"Concordance of circulating tumour DNA and matched metastatic tissue biopsy in prostate cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-wyatt-ctdna-tissue-concordance-mcrpc-jnci-2017/"},{"id":"paper-mateo-genomics-lethal-prostate-diagnosis-castration-resistance-jci-2020","kind":"paper","name":"Genomics of lethal prostate cancer at diagnosis and castration resistance","route":"/key-papers/paper-mateo-genomics-lethal-prostate-diagnosis-castration-resistance-jci-2020/"},{"id":"paper-sequist-genotypic-histological-evolution-egfr-resistance-sci-transl-med-2011","kind":"paper","name":"Genotypic and histological evolution of lung cancers acquiring resistance to EGFR inhibitors","route":"/key-papers/paper-sequist-genotypic-histological-evolution-egfr-resistance-sci-transl-med-2011/"},{"id":"paper-gainor-alk-resistance-mutations-cancer-discov-2016","kind":"paper","name":"Molecular mechanisms of resistance to first- and second-generation ALK inhibitors in ALK-rearranged lung cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-gainor-alk-resistance-mutations-cancer-discov-2016/"},{"id":"paper-leighl-nile-cfdna-tissue-genotyping-ccr-2019","kind":"paper","name":"NILE: clinical utility of comprehensive cell-free DNA analysis to identify genomic biomarkers in patients with newly diagnosed metastatic non-small cell lung cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-leighl-nile-cfdna-tissue-genotyping-ccr-2019/"},{"id":"paper-hruban-panin-nomenclature-ajsp-2001","kind":"paper","name":"Pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia: a new nomenclature and classification system for pancreatic duct lesions","route":"/key-papers/paper-hruban-panin-nomenclature-ajsp-2001/"},{"id":"paper-blueprint-phase-2-pd-l1-assays-jto-2018","kind":"paper","name":"PD-L1 immunohistochemistry comparability study in real-life clinical samples: results of Blueprint phase 2 project","route":"/key-papers/paper-blueprint-phase-2-pd-l1-assays-jto-2018/"},{"id":"paper-wu-gnas-ipmn-sci-transl-med-2011","kind":"paper","name":"Recurrent GNAS mutations define an unexpected pathway for pancreatic cyst development","route":"/key-papers/paper-wu-gnas-ipmn-sci-transl-med-2011/"},{"id":"paper-robinson-integrative-clinical-genomics-advanced-prostate-cell-2015","kind":"paper","name":"SU2C-PCF: integrative clinical genomics of advanced prostate cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-robinson-integrative-clinical-genomics-advanced-prostate-cell-2015/"},{"id":"paper-kumar-interindividual-genomic-diversity-metastatic-prostate-nat-med-2016","kind":"paper","name":"Substantial interindividual and limited intraindividual genomic diversity among tumours from men with metastatic prostate cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-kumar-interindividual-genomic-diversity-metastatic-prostate-nat-med-2016/"},{"id":"paper-tracerx-100-nejm-2017","kind":"paper","name":"TRACERx first 100: tracking how lung cancers evolve, and how chromosomal chaos predicts relapse","route":"/key-papers/paper-tracerx-100-nejm-2017/"},{"id":"paper-lindeman-lung-molecular-testing-guideline-jto-2018","kind":"paper","name":"Updated molecular testing guideline for the selection of lung cancer patients for treatment with targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors","route":"/key-papers/paper-lindeman-lung-molecular-testing-guideline-jto-2018/"}],"biomarker":[{"id":"alk-resistance-mutation","kind":"biomarker","name":"ALK kinase-domain resistance mutation (G1202R and the rest)","route":"/biomarkers/alk-resistance-mutation/"},{"id":"ctdna-tumour-fraction","kind":"biomarker","name":"Circulating tumour DNA fraction (and what a negative plasma result means)","route":"/biomarkers/ctdna-tumour-fraction/"},{"id":"nepc-transformation","kind":"biomarker","name":"Treatment-emergent neuroendocrine transformation (recognising it)","route":"/biomarkers/nepc-transformation/"}],"trial":[{"id":"promis","kind":"trial","name":"PROMIS","route":"/trials/promis/"}]}}