Resumen
A precise diagnosis is key in the correct treatment of sarcomas. However, which kind of biopsy should be done: A minimal invasive core needle biopsy (CNB) or an incisional biopsy (IB), yielding more tissue but requiring surgery? We compared the results of both methods after resection of musculoskeletal sarcomas in respect to the accuracy of the diagnosis. In total, 417 patients with 472 biopsies and final sarcoma diagnoses were included. The rate of unequivocal sarcoma diagnoses was 84.9% with CNB vs. 87.6% with IB (p = 0.465). The rate of repeat biopsies was higher with CNB as compared to IB (p = 0.003). There was no difference in the determination of the sarcoma subtype or the grade of malignancy. Sarcoma subtype, bone vs. soft tissue, and the biopsy technique utilized did not influence the sensitivity. The single exception to this was with chondrosarcomas, where IB was significantly superior to CNB (p = 0.024). Based on our data, the minimal invasive technique can be used without disadvantages in the majority of patients.