Depending on the tumor, acceptable approaches to biopsy include any of the following EXCEPT:
A. Fine-needle aspirationA sample of a lesion can be obtained with a needle or with an open incisional or excisional biopsy specimen. Core biopsy specimen, such as fine-needle aspiration, is relatively safe and can be performed either by direct palpation ( eg, a breast mass or a soft tissue mass) or can be guided by an imaging study (eg, stereotactic core biopsy specimen of the breast). Open biopsy specimens have the advantage of providing more tissue for histologic evaluation and the disadvantage of being an operative procedure. Incisional biopsy specimens are reserved for very large lesions in which a definitive diagnosis cannot be made by needle biopsy specimen. Excisional biopsy specimens are performed for lesions for which either core biopsy specimen is not possible or the results are nondiagnostic.