Diagnosis of soft tissue tumours by Tru-Cut biopsy

Tru-Cut biopsies were obtained from 52 consecutive patients referred with soft tissue tumours. Forty-five patients had soft tissue sarcomas; seven had benign soft tissue tumours. Of the biopsies 96 per cent provided adequate material for diagnosis. The histological diagnosis made from the Tru-Cut biopsy was compared with that made from the resected specimen. There were no false positive diagnoses of malignancy. The accuracy of Tru-Cut biopsy was 98 per cent for the diagnosis of malignancy and 94 per cent for the diagnosis of sarcoma. Tumour subtype was correctly specified in 85 per cent of sarcomas and tumour grade in 88 per cent. Tru-Cut biopsy should replace open biopsy as the primary means of diagnosis of soft tissue tumours unless a satisfactory tissue sample cannot be obtained.