home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Biopsy
- • Almost all biopsies of suspicious breast masses used to be open surgical biopsies, but fine needle aspiration
- (FNA) biopsy is being used more often. This simple office procedure can usually give a definitive answer about
- the possibility of cancer, but interpretation by a specially trained cytologist or pathologist is necessary to
- evaluate the tissue correctly. About 1 in 20 aspirations does not confirm a malignancy when one is known to be
- present (false negative), so either a repeat FNA, a needle-guided biopsy or an open surgical biopsy should be
- done if mammography or physical findings are suspicious and the initial FNA is negative.
- • Mammography may help guide the surgeon to do an open biopsy of the correct area. This is especially
- important for non-palpable lesions. A needle is placed within or adjacent to the lesion under x-ray guidance
- (needle localization). A mammogram is then done to make sure the suspicious area has been removed.
- • Stereotactic fine-needle biopsy and core biopsy are specialized mammography procedures, similar to needle
- localization, that rely on computer assistance to allow a biopsy needle to be positioned even more precisely.
- These techniques are used mainly for small non-palpable lesions detected by mammography alone.
