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- loss of the breast. Whether to perform the surgery is up to the woman. Some women may feel more
- comfortable avoiding surgery at an early stage and living with the risk. Others may feel otherwise.
- • To diagnose or stage the disease Although many non-surgical techniques can diagnose cancer accurately,
- in most cases it is still necessary for an oncologist planning therapy to have a sample of tissue to analyze. A
- surgeon can remove a small amount of tissue by inserting a very fine needle into the area of the tumor and
- drawing out a few cells to be examined under a microscope. This needle aspiration—or aspiration cytology—is
- the easiest and most comfortable technique used to obtain sample cells, but the very small amount of tissue
- involved may not be enough for an accurate diagnosis.
- When more tissue is needed, a larger needle can obtain a "core" of tissue for microscopic examination. If that
- sample is still not enough, a small operation—an incisional biopsy—may be performed to remove a portion of
- the tumor. When the tumor is small, the surgeon might do an excisional biopsy, meaning that the entire lesion is
- removed rather than just a sample of it. This is very common with skin lesions, where the doctor has to know
- whether the lesion is a benign condition, malignant melanoma or some other skin cancer.
- To stage the disease properly a more formal operation may be needed to obtain tissue from several areas of
- the body. This is common with lymphomas, where a staging laparotomy—opening and examining the abdomen
- may be required to remove sample tissues from the liver and lymph nodes and to remove the spleen .
- It is important to remember that diagnostic surgery is just that—an operation designed merely to obtain
- tissue to confirm a diagnosis or to help plan adequate treatment. The goal is not to cure the cancer.
