Electron Microscopy Studies on Cytologic Material Acquired by Fine Needle Biopsy

Abstract

Tumour material, collected by fine-needle aspiration according to Franzén (4) has been fixed and embedded for study with the transmission electron microscope (TEM). Different kinds of tumours, mainly from the head and neck region as well as experimental animal material (liver and salivary gland tissue from guinea-pigs) have been studied. It is possible to get material of good quality by careful processing of the specimens and the paper contains a number of micrographs showing such specimens. There is every reason to regard the results presented as an indication that electron microscopy can be used for more detailed studies in connection with fine-needle biopsy. It should be tried especially in those cases where it is of interest to follow a tumour during radiotherapy or treatment with antibiotics or cytotoxic drugs.