Surgical oncology is a surgical specialty related to the cure and management of cancer.
The removal and examination of a sample of tissue.
Physician that interprets and diagnoses the changes caused by diseases in tissues and body fluids.
A needle biopsy is a diagnostic procedure that involves taking a small sample of breast tissue from an area that appears suspicious from a mammogram.
During this procedure, you will be given a local anesthetic to numb the area. The physician will use a special, hollow needle to extract cells from the suspicious area for further diagnosis.
This procedure is most often performed on tumors that can be felt through the skin, such as suspicious breast lumps and enlarged lymph nodes. Types of needle biopsies include:
Fine-needle Aspiration
A long, thin needle is inserted into the suspicious area and a syringe used to draw out fluid and cells for analysis.
Core Needle Biopsy
A larger needle with a cutting tip is used to draw a column of tissue out of a suspicious area.
Stereotactic Biopsy
This is performed in order to get tissue from a lump that cannot be felt during the breast exam. The surgeon will use a special type of X-ray imaging to find the lump that the needle must target in order to get an accurate tissue sample. The needle will follow the X-ray to the area and take a tissue sample. Some surgeons will place a small metal chip at the biopsy site after taking the tissue sample so that future mammograms or ultrasounds will indicate where the biopsy was done.
You may experience mild discomfort after these procedures, but will be able to resume normal activity within a day or so.