Value of small percutaneous bone biopsy in staging lymphoma; experience in a regional hospital

A single small percutaneous bone biopsy was obtained in 107 untreated patients with lymphoma as part of staging. Six out of 52 cases of Hodgkin's disease had positive bone biopsies and three of these relapsed. In 55 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, nine out of 16 with nodular lymphocytic disease and only 12 of 39 with diffuse disease, had positive biopsies. The incidence of relapse and deaths over the time studied was not clearly related to the biopsy results. The results are similar to findings in other series where a larger bone sample was obtained. The value of a single small bone biopsy in lymphoma seems established.