BackgroundWhether preoperative biopsy affects postoperative recurrence and metastasis of lung cancer patients is still controversial.MethodsIn order to clarify the disputes mentioned above, we collected relevant literatures to conduct a meta-analysis. Furthermore, to validate the results of the meta-analysis, we retrospectively analysed 575 patients with stage I lung adenocarcinoma who underwent surgical resection in our center from 2010 to 2018 using propensity score matching and competing risk models.Results5509 lung cancer patients from 11 articles were included in the meta-analysis. Summary analysis showed the total recurrence rate of biopsy group was higher than that of non-biopsy group (Risk radio (RR)=1.690 (1.220, 2.330), p=0.001). After propensity score matching, we found that there was no significant correlation between biopsy and total recurrence (RR=1.070 (0.540, 2.120), p=0.850). In our cohort, of 575 stage I lung adenocarcinomas, 113 (19.7%) patients underwent preoperative biopsy. During a median follow-up of 71 (57, 93) months, multivariable analyses showed preoperative biopsy in the overall observation cohort [sub-distribution hazard ratio (SHR)=1.522; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.997–2.320; p=0.051] and in the propensity score-matched cohort (SHR=1.134; 95% CI: 0.709–1.810; p=0.600) was not significantly correlated with the risk of recurrence and metastasis. What's more, preoperative biopsy didn't affect disease-free survival (SHR=0.853, 95%CI: 0.572–1.273; p=0.438) and overall survival (SHR=0.647, 95%CI: 0.352–1.189; p=0.161).ConclusionPreoperative biopsy might not increase the risk of recurrence and metastasis, suggesting these procedures might be safe for patients with stage I lung adenocarcinoma whose diagnosis is difficult to determine before surgery.