Breast biopsy
What is a breast biopsy?
A breast biopsy is a procedure in which a small sample of breast tissue is removed for laboratory tests.
This allows a suspicious area in the breast to be assessed, with the aim of determining whether or not it is cancer.
There is a wide variety of ways in which this procedure is performed, so we invite you to get to know it.
When is it done?
There are several reasons for a doctor to indicate that it should be performed.
Among the main reasons, we see that the following appear:
- The patient or doctor feels a lump or hardening in the chest. Therefore, it is suspected that it could be breast cancer.
- The mammogram showed some suspicious area on the chest.
- An ultrasound scanner revealed something strange.
- Chest MRI showed an area with irregularities.
- Unusual changes in the nipple or areola, such as scabs, dimples in the skin, or bleeding.
Risks
Although it is a relatively safe procedure, because it is performed on external parts of the body, it is not without risks, such as:
- Bruising and swelling in the chest.
- Infections or bleeding at the biopsy site.
- Changes in the appearance of the breast, depending on how much tissue has been removed and how it heals.
The patient should contact the doctor if he or she has a fever, if the biopsied area becomes red or warm.
Also, if you have any drainage at the biopsy site.
Sometimes, they can be signs of an infection that might need treatment.
How is it done?
Many biopsies are used to obtain tissue samples from the breast.
Your doctor may recommend a particular procedure based on the size, location, and other characteristics of the chest abnormality.
When in doubt, it is advisable for the patient to ask why they choose one method over another.
Most are performed under local anesthesia.
Different types of biopsy include:
- Biopsy through fine-needle aspiration
- The simplest way. It may be used to assess a lump that may be felt during a clinical breast exam. For the procedure, the patient will lie on the table. While holding the lump in one hand, the doctor will use the other to insert a very thin needle into the lump. The needle is connected to a small pump that can collect the sample of cells or fluid from the lump. This method is a quick way to distinguish between a fluid-filled cyst and a solid mass, which can eventually prevent more invasive procedures. If the mass is solid, the tissue sample will be obtained.
- Core needle biopsy
- It is also used to access lumps in the breast that are visible on a mammogram, ultrasound, or that have been detected by touch during an exam. To do this, the radiologist or surgeon uses a thin, hollow needle to remove tissue samples from the mass in the chest. Most of the time, guided by an ultrasound. Various samples, all of them the size of a grain of rice, are collected and analyzed to identify the presence of the disease. Depending on the location of the mass, the imaging technique used to guide the needle when obtaining the tissue sample is selected.
- Stereotactic biopsy
- In this modality, mammograms are used to point out the location of suspicious areas on the chest. During the procedure, the patient will lie face down on a special table with one of the breasts placed in a hole in the table. If necessary, it can be performed on the patient sitting down. It can take anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour. The radiologist will make a small six-millimeter incision in the chest. The needle or a vacuum extractor will then be inserted to take several tissue samples. Then, they will be sent to the lab for testing.
- Surgical biopsy.
- During this procedure, a portion of the entire foreign mass in the breast is removed. It is performed in an operating room and a combination of general and local anesthesia is used. If the mass in the breast cannot be felt, the radiologist may use a technique called wire localization to map the route to the suspicious lump for the surgeon. To do this, the tip of a small wire is used and placed over the foreign body. It is usually done before surgery. During the operation, the surgeon will try to remove the entire mass with the wire. To make sure that all possible tumor has been removed, the tissue will be sent to the lab to confirm if cancer has been found. If so, the margins of the mass will be assessed to determine if they have cancer cells. If this is the case, another surgery will be scheduled to remove more tissue. If the margins do not have cancer cells, it means that the tumor has been removed properly.
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- Dr. Roberto García
How to prepare?
The patient should tell their treating doctor if they have allergies, have taken aspirin in the last seven days, are taking medications that thin the blood and/or have difficulty lying on their stomach for a very long period.
If it will be an MRI biopsy, it is important to inform the doctor of the presence of cardiac pacemakers and other electronic devices implanted in the body.
Also, if you are pregnant or could be.
In any of these cases, MRI is contraindicated.
The patient will need to wear a bra, as the medical team may place cold compresses against the biopsy site.
This is because the bra can keep them fixed and support the breast.
For many people, the idea of a breast biopsy can be scary.
However, it is important to understand that early detection is one of the main weapons to fight cancer and other diseases.
If the doctor has prescribed it, it is important not to hesitate to perform it.
Of course: all the concerns that may arise must be expressed, in order to avoid complications.
