Invasive lung cancer staging: influence of CT-guided core needle biopsy on onset of pleural carcinomatosis

In lung cancer patients with single peripheral lesions, CT-guided needle biopsies (CTNBs) are common for histological sampling. Recently published studies showed conflicting results for the influence of CTNB on the onset of pleural carcinomatosis (PC). In order to estimate the influence of CTNB on pleural tumor spread, 146 histologically confirmed cases of lung cancer diagnosed by CTNB were retrospectively compared to 112 control lung cancer patients diagnosed by non-CTNB. CTNB was not associated with an earlier onset of PC, identifying CTNB as a safe procedure for minimally invasive lung cancer staging.