Role of Bone Marrow Biopsy for Staging New Patients with Ewing Sarcoma:
A Systematic Review
Abstract
The incidence of bone marrow metastasis (BMM) in newly diagnosed Ewing
sarcoma (ES) is variable across studies. An optimal staging strategy for
detecting BMM is not defined. While BM biopsy and/or aspirate (BMBA)
have been the gold standard, [F-18]fluorodeoxyglucose positron
emission tomography (FDG-PET) to detect BM metastasis may decrease
reliance on BMBA. We conducted a systematic review to assess incidence
of BMM and the role of FDG-PET. We observed a pooled incidence by BMBA
of BMM of 4.8% in all newly diagnosed ES patients and 17.5% among
patients with metastatic disease. Only 1.2% of patients had BMM as
their sole metastatic site. FDG-PET detection of BMM compared to BMBA
demonstrated pooled 100% sensitivity and 96% specificity, positive
predictive value of 75% and negative predictive value of 100%. In the
era of FDG-PET imaging, omission of BMBA may be considered in patients
with otherwise localized disease after initial staging studies.