Firstly a surgical biopsy is never intended to get it all out. It's basically intended to take a sample of tissue to determine malignancy. Sometimes if it's a very small growth or area they will try to cut it all out. But usually after that you will get results stating margins as well as type of growth (so did they get a full sample with clear margins (a normal set of cells surrounding the tumor) - and was it cancerous? That's what the biopsy is meant to answer. If it's small enough and clearly doesn't belong there it should be removed. Ideally - the first time out. Damage it by not getting it all and it tends to spread more quickly. The problem is in the early stages abnormal cells all look alike in the eyes of a surgeon so they usually have to take a sizeable chunk. The other thing is after this the persons lymphnodes need to be closely watched because even in its smallest size these tumors can seed to the nodes of the neck so at the first sign of swelling they have to be seen immediately.

Ultimately it's a 50/50 split.

Have a normal biopsy and get the results - then - if cancer is detected it should be followed up with surgery and a partial neck dissection.

This seems to be most effective,

Hugs