Bone Biopsy Negative!!

Grace2U
Grace2U Member Posts: 18
edited September 2018 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY

Daughter's CT guided bone biopsy did not find cancer. Her MRI and CT scans showed a 2cm lytic lesion on her spine, but when the doctor did the biopsy he said her bones were very strong and hard. I understand "lytic lesion" to be destroying the bone not make them strong.



Anyway, her oncologist who initially said he was not convinced from the MRI that it was cancer is now saying that perhaps they didn't take enough sample. Daughter's tumor markers are normal, her blood work is also normal and she did have an auto accident a few weeks before this all happened and started experiencing back pain which could be showing as a hot spot on her back.



So what now?



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  • Grace2U
    Grace2U Member Posts: 18
    edited February 2013

    Any comments from anyone?

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  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 16,818
    edited February 2013

    Grace it's good that the biopsy didn't show cancer but it still leaves the anomaly of the lesion. Hopefully your daughters onc will keep checking to try to get some answers for you. I honestly don't know where this will lead but hopefully that car accident has something to do with it.



    Love n hugs. Chrissy

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  • cheryl1946
    cheryl1946 Member Posts: 1,308
    edited February 2013

    Since ct scan guided biopsy was done,  maybe wait 2 months and have another scan? That will show if lesion is the same or has grown.

    Can't think of any other option, but maybe someone else has an idea.

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  • GoldenGirls
    GoldenGirls Member Posts: 608
    edited February 2013

    Hi Grace2u, I think I shared my mom's story with you earlier this week. We were thrilled when the first and then the second biopsy came back negative, but the onc was convinced the samples must have been "missing something" even though they were guided biopsies because lytic lesions are very often malignant. Her bone density test just a couple months earlier showed perfectly strong bones and they are still very hard and strong despite the lytic lesions. It  wasn't the answer we wanted and we really did hold out hope over those 3 months that it was going to be something other than cancer, but now we're grateful that the onc didn't just accept the negative biopsy and persisted. He told me point blank that even with the 2 negative biopsies that he was certain it was cancer and that a better sample would confirm it. He was right. My mom's follow-up scan done the same week as the 3rd biopsy showed that one of the lesions had grown (and become significantly more painful).

    The onc said that an open/surgical biopsy might be the only way to get a sufficient sample. That was going to be our next step if the 3rd didn't confirm it. Maybe that's an option for your daughter?

    I hope you get the answers you need and I pray that they're benign.

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  • kayrnic
    kayrnic Member Posts: 1,708
    edited February 2013

    If they can't give a definitive answer, I would insist on additional scans/blood work in a few months at the most. Biopsies are very good, but there are false negatives and I would want to make sure docs are monitoring the lesion. Good luck!

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  • Enjoyful
    Enjoyful Member Posts: 3,591
    edited May 2013

    Within the last month, I had a PET/CT and MRI that showed multiple lesions on my spine.  A CT-guided biopsy of the largest was negative for cancer.  My doctor spoke with the radiologist and confirmed proper placement of the biopsy needle, and the tissue they retrieved was sufficient for a biopsy.

    Nevertheless, my oncologist said that false negatives are common in bone biopsies and he believes it's cancer.  So we're going ahead with a clinical trial.

    This sucks!  Biopsies are supposed to be definitive!

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  • Neroul11
    Neroul11 Member Posts: 1
    edited September 2018

    I’m going through the same situation with a relative and are now waiting for a spinal surgery to remove larger samples. What ended up happening with your daughter

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