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1. All Information about
Breast Biopsy
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2. Index
S.No Title Pg. No
1 Breast Biopsy - An Introduction 3
2 All Information about Breast Biopsy 4
3 Breast Biopsy – What you must know 4
4 Awareness about Breast Biopsy 5
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3. Breast Biopsy - An Introduction
Medical examinations are a part of a healthy living. This is because, a healthy individual not only eats and
lives healthy, but also takes care of his body and under goes routine check-ups to monitor the health of
various parts of the body. The breast biopsy is one such test which helps the healthcare experts to
understand anomalies or abnormalities in the breasts.
This is a less complicated procedure where some tissues form the breast a collected by creating an incision.
These tissues are then studied under the microscope to check for probable medical problems.
Many a times, the doctor may recommend a breast biopsy in the following circumstances:
• lumps in the breast
• Skin near the breast becoming coarse
• The nipples exuding liquid
• Pain in the chest
• Swelling in the chest area
Besides these few reasons, breast tissues may be checked to determine the presence or absence of cancers.
Most often, the main reason for a biopsy to be done is to eliminate growth of cancerous tumors or lesions
once they are discovered in the body. Nevertheless, there is nothing to be worried about as an early
detection helps the patient to explore various effective treatment options. In most cases, almost 80 percent
of the women who get the test done do not have a cancer while on the other hand another benefit is that
early cancers can be cured and treated in a way that they are not recurring.
There are various methods for the procedure
to be carried out but there are only two main
principles on which it is based: either
Excisional or Incisional in nature. In an
Excisonal biopsy the entire suspected area is
separated from the body and no remnants are
present. In an Incisional biopsy only a part or
sample of tissue is removed from the breast
and examined in the laboratory. In this type
of examination, the basic network and
arrangement of tissues remains the
unchanged. Generally, the equipment used is
medical needle which pierces into the skin of
the mammary gland and removes a part of
the abnormal tissue, lesion, lump or liquid.
Recovery time for a patient who has
undergone a breast biopsy is brief and very
soon the individual can return to routine life
activities. If the reports are negative for
cancer and smoother abnormality is seen, the physician will administer appropriate medication and
treatment. If the report is positive for breast cancer, then the patient may need to undergo regular
chemotherapy and cancer treatment procedures. Returning to regular life may be delayed in this case, but
one must participate willingly and fearlessly because with new age technology and treatments, curing a
cancer is certainly possible.
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4. All Information about Breast
Biopsy
Breast biopsy is the testing of the breast tissues to
check for cancerous cells. When a woman gets
abnormal mammogram results or has suspicions
about a lump in the breast, breast biopsy is the best
alternative. The biopsy procedure includes the
removal of a small amount of breast tissue for
testing whether the cells are cancerous or non-
cancerous, in case if a tumor is found - is it benign
(which doe not spread and is treatable) or is it
malignant (tumor spreads to other part of the body)
and if there is a malignant tumor, the scope is to be
checked - whether the tumor has spread to other
parts of the body.
With advancing technology joining hands with the
medical field, breast cancer screening is getting easier and safer by the day. Traditional breast biopsy is a
surgically invasive procedure and there may be risk of scarring. Breast biopsies are basically done to check
the possibility for breast cancer. This method of breast cancer screening is slowly being replaced by newer
methods.
A new technique for precise and comfortable scanning for breast cancer is the PET – positron emission
tomography. This instrument solely dedicated to breast cancer screening has the benefits of comfort,
accuracy and less cost relatively. The device can be used to screen for preliminary breast cancer as well as
to track following treatment for breast cancer.
Breast biopsies can be minimally invasive or they can be open surgical breast biopsies. But there has to be
a limit to the number of open breast biopsies. Roughly 1 in every 3 suspicious breast lesions is biopsied
with open surgery, but only 5% to 10% of such breast lesions initially need this highly invasive procedure –
open biopsy is incredibly over utilized.
But the trend id now changing with minimally invasive breast biopsies are increasing. Its advantages are
less scarring, reduced costs, and less morbidity. This rate also depends on the people’s awareness about
such techniques and their choice. Patients are responsible for the choice of an open surgical biopsy and they
step in with pre-conceived notions which are the duty of the physician to remove and educate the patients
about newer and safer techniques. The more invasive procedure is more accurate than minimally invasive
breast biopsies, but only slightly. A recent meta-analysis comparing the 2 approaches concluded that
"stereotactic- and ultrasonography-guided core-needle breast biopsy procedures seem to be almost as
accurate as open surgical biopsy, with lower complication rates.
One should be aware about the newer medical techniques to have an aware, safe and healthy life.
Breast Biopsy - What you must know
The Breast Biopsy is the procedure where breast tissue is collected to check for cancers or other diseases.
The procedure is done, when abnormalities are seen in the breast or when the woman experiences
discomfort or other medical problems.
Basically, the procedure is done to examine any abnormal or suspicious growth in the mammary glands of
the body. When a lump is seen in the chest, the tissues are collected by suction trough a needle or through a
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5. surgical incision. The pathologist will then examine the sample and identify it as either benign or
malignant. A benign tumor or group of cells is non-cancerous whereas, a malignant tissue is cancerous and
must be treated immediately. Treatment for malignant tumors employs conventional cancer-treatment
methodologies.
Generally, women themselves
identify the first stage of breast
cancers or tumors, when they do
occur. The abnormal mass of cells
can be felt by the individual and
most often, is also visible to the
named eye. When the individual is
taken for the Breast Biopsy
procedure, the physician may carry
it out in the operating room or even
the outpatient facility. An
otherwise healthy individual may
be sent home soon after the
procedure and may not need to be
hospitalized.
Besides the presence of an anomalous lesion in the breasts, there are also other symptoms which must be
reported to the physician:
• A sudden bulge in the arm-pit or near the collarbone could possibly be a dispersal of cancerous
cells.
• The breast skin turning red or causing irritation must be reported.
• The appearance of dimples or scales on the mammary organ is a cause for concern.
• Swelling of the skin around the chest is also not normal
• Discharge of milk, itching or retraction of the nipple may indicate a health issue.
• Sometimes the size of the right and left breast may begin to change. The shape may change as
well. Such changes must be discussed with you health care expert without any inhibitions.
• If the woman has been experiencing pain in her chest, it should not be ignored. Breast-ache could
be for various reasons and talking to your doctor about the same will certainly help treatment.
However, even though it is important to remember and report these symptoms, it is also important to
understand that all abnormalities do not indicate cancers. One has to wait for the breast biopsy results to
confirm any medical condition is. Watch medical videos, read about medical conditions, symptoms of
diseases and treatment - stay informed, not afraid.
Awareness about Breast Biopsy
It is a myth that breast biopsy is a screening test for breast cancer! Doctors online have clearly mentioned
that breast biopsy is an examination done to detect any kind of disorder and not only breast cancer.
Breast self-examination is a healthy practice which must be developed by all women. Only during self-
examination, one can realize about any abnormalities like change in appearance or unusual nipple discharge
or lumps can be felt in the breast. Lumps in the armpit area, nipple retraction or inversion, red or scaly
breast skin, nipple itching and breast pain can also lead to suspicion and in this case, breast biopsy becomes
very important. The doctors can confirm the presence of a lump by palpation or imaging studies like
ultrasound or MRI or even mammography. Once confirmed, the patient is suggested to undergo a breast
biopsy.
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6. The first question of a layman would be – what
is a biopsy? A biopsy is a procedure where
sample cells or tissues are taken from the
suspicious areas and checked under a
microscope. A biopsy could be done for any
part of the body. The breast biopsy procedure
includes the same technique. This procedure
can be invasive or non-invasive i.e. surgical or
non-surgical, but the objective is to collect
sample tissues from the suspicious lump or the
whole lump is taken out, which is known as
lumpectomy.
Surgical biopsy requires incision on the skin
while non-surgical procedures include
techniques like vacuum assisted biopsy, breast
needle biopsy or fine needle aspiration biopsy.
A breast biopsy is mostly done clinically or in a hospital, based on the size of the growth to be inspected.
Breast biopsies are done to rule out the possibility of cancer or confirm its stage, metastasis on other organs
and association of many lymph nodes which can speed up the spread of cancer cells.
The core needle and fine needle aspiration biopsy use needles to collect tissues but the type of needle
differs. The core needle biopsy is thicker and hollow. In the vacuum aided biopsy, a probe is inserted,
guided by MRI or ultrasound, and vacuum is used to extract the tissues. A local anesthesia may be used if
any is needed. It is mostly a painless procedure and the risks or complications are minimal. Little pain or
discomfort may be overcome with OTC products.
Breast cancer is the third most common type of cancer in women worldwide and is the leading cause of
death with grossly million death cases annually. Awareness and knowledge about the topic can help in
early detection and prevention of breast cancer. Breast biopsies, therefore, play an important role in women
healthcare.
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7. Reference:
Breast biopsy - http://docturs.com/dd/pg/groups/11280/breast-biopsy/
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8. Thank you
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