Value of the bone marrow biopsy in the diagnosis of metastatic carcinoma

The observations collected from hematologic examinations of 100 patients with metastatic carcinoma are reported. Histologic evaluation of the marrow needle biopsy and aspirate revealed the biopsy showing clearcut evidence of tumor in 94 patients, while the aspirate was positive in only 43. The other common morphological alterations included fibrosis (87%) and myelosclerosis (67%). Mild anemia was noted in 74 patients of this group and thrombocytopenia in 25 patients out of the 66 whose platelet counts were recorded. Leukoerythroblastosis was noted in only 19 patients out of the 79 patients whose peripheral blood smears were available for examination. The results point to the superiority of the bone marrow biopsy over the aspirate in the diagnosis of metastatic carcinoma. Rather than leukoerythroblastosis which occurred in only 19 of this group, we found mild anemia and thrombocytopenia to be more common.