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The risk of tumour spread at aspiration biopsy of pulmonary tumours through the needle track has been analyzed by reviewing the case histories of 1 264 patients with a malignant tumour demonstrated by needle biopsy. Only in one case did metastatic tumour growth develop at the site of the biopsy. The history of this case is presented and the available literature on the subject discussed.

The findings at aspiration biopsy of palpable intrapelvic lesions were reviewed in 316 patients who had previously received radiation therapy for carcinoma of the uterine cervix. A cytologic diagnosis of malignant spread had been made in 55 cases. The crude five-year survival rate in these patients was 4 per cent, as compared with 51 per cent among the patients who received a negative cytologic report. Aspiration biopsy was positive in only about 48 per cent of the patients in whom follow-up observations suggested intrapelvic spread of carcinoma. The factors that may have influenced the diagnostic accuracy are discussed. Use of a screw (0.5 mm thick) technique instead of the 22-gauge needle may enhance the diagnostic accuracy.

The prognostic influence in operable mammary carcinoma of morphologic predictors evaluated in smears of needle-biopsy aspirate and in tissue sections and of clinical stage was investigated. Size of nuclei in smears of aspirate was found to convey prognostic information of the same order of importance as the variables tubule information and mitotic frequency in tissue sections. The combination of clinical stage with variables in smears and in sections enhanced the explanatory value.