title: The Importance of Biopsy in the Era of Molecular Medicine.
abstract: Recent advances in the molecular characterization of cancers have triggered interest in developing a new taxonomy of disease in oncology with the goal of using the molecular profile of a patient's tumor to predict response to treatment. Image-guided needle biopsy is central to this "precision medicine" effort. In this review, we first discuss the current role of biopsy in relation to clinical examples of molecular medicine. We then outline important bottlenecks to the advancement of precision medicine and highlight the potential role of image-guided biopsy to address these challenges.
authors.affiliation: From the Interventional Radiology Service, Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Etay
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ziv
authors.forename: Jeremy C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Durack
authors.forename: Stephen B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Solomon
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D061705:Image-Guided Biopsy; D062346:Molecular Medicine; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy