Is a fine needle or excisional biopsy better to diagnose lymphoma?

Excisional biopsy: It can be quite important to see the entire node as the "architecture" is key to the diagnosis. Taking the node out is the "gold standard".

Excisional: Excisional biopsy is more accurate for diagnosis of lymphoma, because the samples are much larger. Fine needle aspiration (fna) can make the diagnosis, and is much less invasive - however, the sample is much smaller, and can miss the involved portion of the lymph node.