Does anyone know the statistics as to how many biopsied nodes usually yield a cancerous result? Also any information on the accuracey in core needle and fine needle biopsies of a lymph node? Thanks

Does anyone know the statistics as to how many biopsied nodes usually yield a cancerous result? Also any information on the accuracey in core needle and fine needle biopsies of a lymph node? Thanks
Statistics on percentage of cancerous nodes biopsied is going to be a relative number. If the doctor has had a lot of years in practice he might be better at guessing which ones are likely cancer and which ones are not so his results will be skewed to finding cancer a good deal of the time. If you have a doctor who has a lucrative practice he might have a smaller percentage of cancer to non-cancerous results due to being very cautious about sending patients away. The decision to biopsy is always based on the advice of the doctor and consent of the patient.(in other words no standard has been set.)
On the second question, there is a growing number of doctors who are no longer relying on the fine needle biopsy for identifying the presence of cancer cells because the sample is too small to be accurate. Core biopsy is more reliable than fine needle, and whole lymphnode biopsy is the best except in cases where nerve damage is a bigger risk than liklihood of metastic cancer.

M.,
Do you think that is is feasable that a person could stand a core needle biopsy with no local? I have amany allergies and I even get teeth drilled with nothing at all. So this is why I am trying to find about the other methods.