Breast Cancer Biopsy

A breast cancer biopsy can determine if a lump is cancerous.

A breast cancer biopsy involves taking a small sample of suspicious breast tissue and putting it under the microscope. Under the microscope, the sample can tell the doctor if the suspicious lump is benign or cancerous. It is important to remember that not all lumps are breast cancer.

A benign lump can be a number of things. It can be what's called a fibrocystic change in the breast. This is a benign area of scar tissue that can involve the entire breast tissue.

Fibrocystic changes can cause lumps in the breast that are not cancer. These kinds of changes can form cysts in the breast which feel like cancer but are not

"Under the microscope, the sample can tell the doctor if the suspicious lump is benign or cancerous. It is important to remember that not all lumps are breast cancer." A benign breast cancer lump can be found on a breast cancer biopsy. These are caused by non-cancerous cells that affect your breasts. They are made from scar tissue or normal breast tissue that has formed a lump that is not a breast cancer tumor.

A breast cancer biopsy is the only way to tell if you have a benign tumor or cancer. Infections of the breast can form lumps that need to be checked out on a breast cancer biopsy.

Sometimes a breast cancer tumor shows up on the biopsy. The doctor can tell what kind of tumor it is. The doctor can also find out if the lymph nodes are involved with cancer by doing a lymph node biopsy. The doctor can also tell you what the next steps you can take to get rid of the breast cancer.

What to expect during a biopsy

Doctors do two kinds of breast cancer biopsies. They can do a needle biopsy. This involves numbing the breast and putting in a hollow needle that takes a sample of the breast tissue for the microscope. The cells can then be found to be cancerous or benign.

When doctors do needle biopsies, they sometimes use ultrasound to find the lump, especially if it is deep in the breast. The ultrasound can tell where the lump or cyst is and can guide the needle to the affected area. The ultrasound does not hurt at all and helps the doctor find the lump.

Doctors can do "open" biopsies. These are biopsies of breast cancer tumor areas where the doctor opens the breast with a bigger cut in the skin. The doctor then usually removes the lump as much as possible. The sample goes under the microscope and is checked for cancer.

In both cases, the doctor uses numbing medicine to make sure you don't feel anything when the doctor takes the sample. Sometimes the doctor gives you a medicine to relax you during the breast cancer biopsy.

If the breast lump is benign, the doctor usually does nothing further. If it is cancerous, the doctor can tell you the additional treatment you need to have in order to be rid of the cancer.

How to take care of the breast cancer biopsy

If the doctor does an open biopsy, you will have stitches or staples. The stitches or staples must be kept clean and dry until they are removed a week or so later. If you have a needle biopsy, you won't have any stitches but may have swelling and tenderness where the biopsy occurred.

You can put ice on the biopsy site to reduce the breast cancer lump inflammation from the biopsy. You shouldn't do extra activity after having a breast cancer biopsy until your doctor tells you that you can.

Breast biopsies are minor surgeries with few complications. You can have infection at the site of the biopsy or you can have bleeding or buildup of fluid where the biopsy was performed. Rarely, the stitches can come apart. Most of the time you recover very well without any complications.