Breast biopsy is a medical test involving the removal of cells or tissues that has formed a lump, or a cyst, or is not normal.
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2. Index
S.No Title Pg. No
1 Breast Biopsy – What you must know 3
2 Awareness about Breast Biopsy 4
3 Breast Biopsy – A Woman’s Concern 5
4 Breast Biopsy - Checking for Breast Diseases 6
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3. 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
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.
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4. • 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.
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
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5. 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.
Breast Biopsy – A Woman’s Concern
Breast concerns are one of the major issues in a woman’s health. As many breast diseases and disorders are
on a rise, regular tests and check-ups have become vital for women health welfare.
Breast diseases are mostly non-cancerous and self-breast examinations promote awareness in case of any
abnormality. If there seems to be any disorder underlining an apparent deformed breast structure or any
other abnormality, breast biopsy is the way out. Every woman winces at the name of breast biopsy as it
always holds an idea of a latent breast cancer but it is a mere myth. Breast biopsy is just like a general
check up but especially for breasts.
Firstly, biopsy is a medical procedure wherein the cells or tissues are removed for examination to arrive at
the result of abnormality or normalcy of health. It is chemically analyzed or examined microscopically and
there are various ways to do a biopsy.
Breast biopsy is done when there is a suspicion of some abnormality and the type of biopsy carried out
depends on location, shape, size, appearance and characteristics of the abnormality. Advanced medical
services now have various ways of breast biopsies like fine needle aspirations, core needle biopsies,
vacuum assisted biopsies, direct and frontal biopsies and open surgical biopsies.
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6. Fine needle aspirations procedure uses fine needle and syringe and takes sample fluid from the breast cyst
or cells in a cluster from a solid mass for pathologic analysis. The core needle biopsy removes solid tissue
samples with a hollow core needle. It is also done under image-guidance using stereotactic mammography,
MRI or ultrasound. Vacuum assisted biopsy is similar to core needle except that it uses a vacuum technique
to collect the tissue samples. This category also includes automated rotational core devices. The unique
direct frontal system of tissue acquisition is safe and efficient even for macrobiopsy for early breast cancer
detection. The open surgical biopsy includes the removal of a large mass or bump with an incision but
nowadays it is mostly unused and people go for less invasive methods.
A breast biopsy can detect many disorders and it does not always have to be breast cancer. The lump can
either be benign or malignant or non-cancerous. Malignant growth may have disorders like inflammatory
and colloid carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, lobular or infiltrating ductal carcinoma, sarcoma or medullar or
circumscribed carcinoma while benign groth may have resulting disorders like fat necrosis, cyst,
adenofibroma or papilloma.
Breast Biopsy - Checking for Breast Diseases
Breast biopsy always is not always a major issue or concern as it does not definitely mean that one has
breast cancer, as is the general outlook. And breast cancer is not the only disease as there are also other
disorders related to breast.
Breast disorders can be traced when there are symptoms like changes in the size and shape of breast, nipple
discharge, scaly skin on breast, lump in armpit area, reddening of breast skin, nipple itching or breast pain.
These may imply non-cancerous disorders like Phyllodes tumor, Paget’s disease etc. Many breast changes
also take place due to hormone levels, age and medicines causing lumps, bumps and discharges. Some
common causes of breast changes are cysts - fluid-filled lumps, fibroadenomas - solid, round, rubbery
lumps that move easily when pushed, occurring most in younger women, fibrocystic breast condition -
lumpiness, thickening and swelling, often associated with a woman's period, intraductal papillomas -
growths similar to warts near the nipple, blocked or clogged milk ducts, milk production when a woman is
not breastfeeding and injury.
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7. The presence of a lump can be confirmed by palpation, feeling the entire breast, by a doctor. Imaging
studies like MRI – magnetic resonance imaging or ultrasound may also be done or even mammography
may be recommended. When the presence of the lump is confirmed, a breast biopsy is recommended.
First of all, one needs to know what is a biopsy. It is a medical test wherein the presence, reason or scope of
the disease is determined by collecting and checking a cell or tissue sample from the body. Similarly,
breast biopsy procedure involves collecting a sample tissue from the lump in the breast by a surgical or
non-surgical method. The invasive method includes making an incision and removing the entire lump
(which is known as lumpectomy) or its sample. In the non-invasive method, breast needle biopsy or fine
needle aspiration biopsy or vacuum-assisted breast biopsy are employed. Risks in breast biopsy, like
infection, pain and discomfort are minimal.
An abnormal biopsy result does not always mean breast cancer. It would mean that the lump is either
cancerous or non-cancerous and would determine its malignancy. Benign growths result in disorders like
papilloma, adenofibroma, cyst and fat necrosis while malignant growths include adenocarcinoma,
inflammatory carcinoma, and colloid carcinoma, infiltrating ductal carcinoma, sarcoma, lobular carcinoma
and medullar or circumscribed carcinoma. In case of malignant lump, immediate further treatment is
recommended. One can always get second opinions about it and know more with online healthcare
services.
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