# Biopsy

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/biopsy/  
OnCo record `biopsy` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

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.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: 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

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biopsy
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biopsy

## Connected records

- terms: [Benign versus malignant](https://onco.cc/terms/benign-vs-malignant/), [Biomarker](https://onco.cc/terms/biomarker/), [Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA)](https://onco.cc/terms/ctdna/), [Genomic profiling](https://onco.cc/terms/genomic-profiling/), [Histology](https://onco.cc/terms/histology/), [Immunohistochemistry (IHC)](https://onco.cc/terms/ihc/), [Lesion](https://onco.cc/terms/lesion/)
- technologies: [Comprehensive genomic profiling](https://onco.cc/technologies/cgp/), [Histopathology & immunohistochemistry](https://onco.cc/technologies/histopathology-ihc/), [Liquid biopsy (ctDNA)](https://onco.cc/technologies/liquid-biopsy/)
- cancers: [Non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/nsclc/), [Prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate/)
- key papers: [A combination of molecular markers and clinical features improve the classification of pancreatic cysts](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-springer-pancreatic-cyst-molecular-classification-gastroenterology-2015/), [Analysis of tumor specimens at the time of acquired resistance to EGFR-TKI therapy in 155 patients with EGFR-mutant lung cancers](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-yu-acquired-resistance-rebiopsy-egfr-ccr-2013/), [Assessment of resistance mechanisms and clinical implications in patients with EGFR T790M-positive lung cancer and acquired resistance to osimertinib](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-oxnard-osimertinib-resistance-mechanisms-jama-oncol-2018/), [Clinical implications of plasma-based genotyping with the delivery of personalized therapy in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-aggarwal-plasma-genotyping-personalised-therapy-jama-oncol-2019/), [Concordance of circulating tumour DNA and matched metastatic tissue biopsy in prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-wyatt-ctdna-tissue-concordance-mcrpc-jnci-2017/), [Genomics of lethal prostate cancer at diagnosis and castration resistance](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-mateo-genomics-lethal-prostate-diagnosis-castration-resistance-jci-2020/), [Genotypic and histological evolution of lung cancers acquiring resistance to EGFR inhibitors](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-sequist-genotypic-histological-evolution-egfr-resistance-sci-transl-med-2011/), [Molecular mechanisms of resistance to first- and second-generation ALK inhibitors in ALK-rearranged lung cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-gainor-alk-resistance-mutations-cancer-discov-2016/), [NILE: clinical utility of comprehensive cell-free DNA analysis to identify genomic biomarkers in patients with newly diagnosed metastatic non-small cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-leighl-nile-cfdna-tissue-genotyping-ccr-2019/), [Pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia: a new nomenclature and classification system for pancreatic duct lesions](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-hruban-panin-nomenclature-ajsp-2001/), [PD-L1 immunohistochemistry comparability study in real-life clinical samples: results of Blueprint phase 2 project](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-blueprint-phase-2-pd-l1-assays-jto-2018/), [Recurrent GNAS mutations define an unexpected pathway for pancreatic cyst development](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-wu-gnas-ipmn-sci-transl-med-2011/), [SU2C-PCF: integrative clinical genomics of advanced prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-robinson-integrative-clinical-genomics-advanced-prostate-cell-2015/), [Substantial interindividual and limited intraindividual genomic diversity among tumours from men with metastatic prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-kumar-interindividual-genomic-diversity-metastatic-prostate-nat-med-2016/), [TRACERx first 100: tracking how lung cancers evolve, and how chromosomal chaos predicts relapse](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-tracerx-100-nejm-2017/), [Updated molecular testing guideline for the selection of lung cancer patients for treatment with targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-lindeman-lung-molecular-testing-guideline-jto-2018/)
- biomarkers: [ALK kinase-domain resistance mutation (G1202R and the rest)](https://onco.cc/biomarkers/alk-resistance-mutation/), [Circulating tumour DNA fraction (and what a negative plasma result means)](https://onco.cc/biomarkers/ctdna-tumour-fraction/), [Treatment-emergent neuroendocrine transformation (recognising it)](https://onco.cc/biomarkers/nepc-transformation/)
- trials: [PROMIS](https://onco.cc/trials/promis/)

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