Usefulness of cutting needle biopsy in recurrent and advanced staged head and neck malignancies in a palliative setting.

GOAL OF WORK: Advanced staged and recurrent head and neck malignancies require histological confirmation before planning further treatment. The purpose of this article is to focus on the clinical usefulness of cutting needle biopsies in the head and neck as a minimal invasive procedure to establish a tissue diagnosis in a palliative setting.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis on 74 core needle biopsies in 32 patients with recurrent and advanced staged head and neck malignancies was performed to determine the advantages of ultrasound-guided cutting needle biopsies compared to open biopsy and fine-needle aspiration cytology in palliative cancer treatment.

MAIN RESULTS: We experienced 100% success in obtaining high-quality histopathologic specimens. In 93.8% of the patients, a tissue core of the target organ was successfully obtained. All of the patients tolerated the procedure well without any minor or major complications.

CONCLUSIONS: Cutting needle biopsy in the head and neck is a safe and minimal-invasive procedure that can be performed in local anaesthesia on an outpatient basis. In a palliative setting, it can be recommended as an attractive alternative to both fine needle aspiration and open biopsy. It represents a simple and fast device for obtaining a tissue diagnosis with high diagnostic yield and accuracy and low morbidity.