Premium
Bone marrow examination in small cell carcinoma of the bronchus: An unnecessary procedure?
Author(s) -
Mead G. M.,
Williams C. J.,
Thompson J.,
Smith A. G.,
Whitehouse J. M. A.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
hematological oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.918
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1099-1069
pISSN - 0278-0232
DOI - 10.1002/hon.2900030303
Subject(s) - bronchus , medicine , bone marrow , carcinoma , bone marrow examination , pathology , radiology , lung , respiratory disease
One hundred and thirty‐seven patients with small cell carcinoma of the bronchus underwent bone marrow trephine and/or aspirate examination as part of their clinical staging. Twenty‐four patients (17.5 per cent) were found to have malignant marrow infiltration. In no case was this an isolated finding of metastatic disease, indeed most patients had gross metastatic spread to liver and/or bone. Marrow infiltration has not been shown to be a major prognostic factor in response to chemotherapy or survival in previous studies. We recommend that this staging procedure be discontinued in routine clinical practice, and instead be confined to specific indications in clinical trials.