Abstract
Image-guided percutaneous needle biopsies (PNBs) are one of the most common procedures
performed in radiology departments today. Rapid developments in precision medicine,
which identifies molecular and genomic biomarkers in cancers, have ushered a new paradigm
of oncologic workup and treatment. PNB has conventionally been used to establish a
benign or malignant nature of a lesion during initial diagnosis or in suspected metastatic
or recurrent disease. However, increasing amounts of tissue are being required to
meet the demands of molecular pathologic analysis, which are now being sought at multiple
time points during the course of the disease to guide targeted therapy. As primary
providers of biopsy, radiologists must be proactive in these developments to improve
diagnostic yield and tissue acquisition in PNB. Herein, we discuss the important and
expanding role of PNB in the age of precision medicine and review the technical considerations
of percutaneous lung and intra-abdominal biopsy. Finally, we examine promising state-of-the-art
techniques in PNB that may safely increase tissue acquisition for optimal molecular
pathologic analysis.
Keywords
interventional radiology - precision medicine - biopsy - percutaneous
