ArticleCureus2025
Reevaluating the Utility of Liver Biopsies in Patients With Melanoma.
Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction This study explores whether some patients with a prior melanoma diagnosis and new liver lesions can be presumed to have metastatic melanoma based on clinical suspicion alone, thereby avoiding the need for liver biopsies. The goal is to enable earlier treatment while reducing the risks, costs, and delays associated with invasive biopsy procedures. Methods This retrospective cohort study reviewed patients with a history of melanoma who underwent ultrasound- or CT-guided liver biopsies between 2014 and 2023. Patients biopsied for liver toxicity assessment, treatment response, or who underwent only fine-needle aspiration were excluded. Chart review captured biopsy outcomes, metastatic history, presence of solitary or multiple liver lesions, and the presence of confounding cancers (any history of non-melanoma malignancy at the time of biopsy). Statistical analysis included Fisher's exact test and binomial CIs. Results Among 143 patients, 111 (77.6%) had positive biopsy results for melanoma (95% CI: 69.9%-84.2%). Of the 76 with a known history of metastatic melanoma, 63 (82.9%) had positive biopsy results, although this association was not statistically significant (p=0.114). The presence of confounding cancer was significantly associated with melanoma-negative biopsy results (p=6.50×10
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.