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Breast Biopsy
Procedures
Breast cancer is one of
the leading causes of death among women across the globe. At the
early stages, someone with breast cancer does not feel pain at all.
Outward signs are often not found. Thus, women are advised to
regularly conduct breast self-examination to identify symptoms such
as the presence of a lump or thickening in the breast or the
underarm area. Other symptoms include changes in size and shape of
one of the breasts, nipple discharges and changes in the way skin
feels. Occurrence of any of these symptoms does not however
conclusively tell the presence of cancer. Doctor’s advice should be
immediately sought. In order to know if the lump is benign or
malignant, the doctor, after conducting physical examination may
recommend for a breast biopsy to be done.
This is the procedure
wherein the lump (or a part of it) is removed. It could be done
using any of the following methodss: surgical biopsy, fine needle
aspiration biopsy, core needle biopsy, or vacuum-assisted biopsy.
In surgical biopsy, an
incision is made in the suspected area to remove part or all of the
lump. The patient will be put either in local or general anesthesia.
If the lump is small, the doctor can opt to remove all of it.
However if it is big, the doctor usually removes only a part of it.
Surgical biopsy may cause scarring since sutures are needed to close
the incision.
Fine needle aspiration
biopsy (FNAB) employs the use of a very thin needle attached to a
syringe. The needle is inserted in the suspected area to withdraw
tissues. Through this breast biopsy procedure, the doctor can
determine if the lump is solid or consists mainly of fluid. If the
lump is a cyst, it is fluid-filled and after the procedure, the cyst
may just collapse. Otherwise, samples taken will be analyzed in a
laboratory. With FNAB, no stitches and essentially no scarring are
expected.
Core needle biopsy (CNB)
is similar to FNAB. However, the needle used is larger and hallow.
It is inserted through the skin to the lump to take sample tissues.
More tissues are collected through this procedure, thus, a more
accurate diagnosis can be obtained. Stitches are not needed but the
insertion may cause some bruising which can be abated using ice
pack.
Vacuum-assisted breast
biopsy uses a probe inserted through a single, small incision. This
machine is used with guidance from ultrasound, stereotactic
mammography or MRI during insertion. Once properly inserted, a
vacuum pulls the breast tissue from which samples are removed. This
procedure can be repeated to get samples from different parts of the
suspected area without the need to insert the machine several times
over.
These procedures can be
performed in a short time, and risks of complications are at a
minimum. Patients do not need to stay in the hospital after the
procedure.
When results after
undergoing any of these breast biopsy procedures show that the lump
is benign, no additional testing is needed. The lump may just be a
cyst, a fibroedenoma, mammary fat necrosis, or papilloma. However if
it is malignant, the doctor may ask for further testing or
immediately recommend treatment.
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