Cure Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma International (iCureASPS)

Discuss video-assisted lung surgery here.

During my staging, a VATS was performed. The doctor had a dye injected into the tumor so that he would be able to find it. I didn't think about it at the time, but as I was reading through all my old surgical reports, I remembered this happening.

My concern is could this have caused the needle to "drag" out tumor cells and perhaps seed new tumors?

Josh, he night have injected the die into the area close to the tumor to leave a mark, not into the tumor itself?
If he did inject the die into to tumor directly, the risk of seeding would be similar to that of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB).
The dissemination of the tumor cells - seeding - along the needle track is often discussed in cases when Percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is used to sample the lung or other mets to verify their origin.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23235767
The authors conclude:
"Although tumor seeding after FNAB is a rare but possible complication, we suggest that careful examination for implantation (with periodical CT scans) should be performed for at least three years after FNAB."

The medical record said that the dye was injected in to the tumor. This was done prior to the VATS while I was still awake, because the surgeon was afraid he wouldn't be able to find the tumor during surgery so he had them "mark" it with dye using a CT scan and a needle.