title: Is bone marrow biopsy obligatory in all patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma?
abstract: Bone marrow biopsy (BMB) is recommended as a part of the workup diagnosis in all patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). This is an invasive procedure that is mostly stressful for the patient and very rarely is associated with severe bleeding. We suggest that the clinician needs to weigh up the potential benefit of this procedure in each case in terms of changing therapeutic approach and prognosis. We think BMB is not mandatory in every patient with NHL and suggest recommendations for which patients we should continue to perform this procedure on.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Petah Tiqwa, Israel. obairey@post.tau.ac.il
authors.forename: Osnat
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bairey
authors.forename: Ofer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Shpilberg
mesh_terms: D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology*; D001856:Bone Marrow Examination; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D018579:Patient Selection; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019564:Unnecessary Procedures
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18