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Very rarely. The American Society of Clinical Oncology says a biopsy is often the best way to determine whether a person has cancer. Needle seeding or tumour seeding refers to rare occurrences when the needle inserted into a tumour during a biopsy dislodges and spreads cancer cells. Sometimes, it is also called needle track or tract seeding because the cancer cells grow along the needle’s track. Several studies and reports of individual cases confirm that tumour seeding is a rare event. Also, the benefits of biopsies far outweigh the risks.
The National Cancer Institute states that the chance of the surgery or the biopsy causing cancer to spread to other parts of the body is extremely low. Standard procedures are followed. Surgeons use various special methods and follow many steps to prevent cancer cells from spreading during biopsies or surgery to remove tumours.
Left lung Cancer vs Right Lung Cancer: Which is more deadly?
A research compared the survival between right and left side lung cancer. It found that the overall survival for tumours of both sides is the same. However, they found that the left lung cancer had a superior five-year cancer-specific survival (CSS) compared to the right side. It must be noted that this is still a debatable topic, and extensive research is needed to reach a conclusion on this.
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