Whilst a lymph node biopsy is one of the most powerful diagnostic tool available for diagnosing a number of health conditions in dogs, it does come with some risks that could make some owners think twice about having the procedure done. Firstly, it requires the dog to be placed under a general anesthetic, which occasionally causes respiratory failure. Because of this, owners of older animals may have some concerns about conducting the biopsy. Secondly, because the biopsy needle is required to puncture the lymph node, there is a small chance that if cancer is present, this puncture will give it an opportunity to spread through the body. That said, the likelihood of this happening is especially small even if the specific type of tumor is prone to spreading.