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Breast Cancer Diagnosis
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There are usually quite a lot of steps involved in diagnosing breast
cancer which includes an assessment of the woman's breast,
ulrasonography, mammography and biopsy. A biopsy is the best way
that breast cancer can be diagnosed, as all the other tests have a
flaw to a certain degree.
A patient undergoes a breast examination which consists first of all
of a visual inspection followed by a palpation of the breasts, the
areas around her collarbone and her armpits. Throughout this
assessment, the doctor palpates for lumps and thickening in the
tissue in all of these areas. |
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Mammograms are
basically x-rays of the breast which help to define what a lump is. Usually
the doctor can tell from examining the patients mammogram results whether a
lump which has been discovered in the breast is breast cancer or a benign
cyst. However as no test is 100% reliable doctors usually like to do back up
tests as mammograms alone are thought to miss up to 10-15% of breast
cancers.
Mammograms can often
provide a false-positive result suggesting a malignancy where no malignancy
is later found on a biopsy. There is the possibility of false negative
mammogram results where the findings appear negative when in fact a cancer
is present.
A mammogram may not be
adequate to assess a lump and your doctor may arrange supplementary tests.
All lumps found in the breast should be defined as benign or malignant.
There should be no room for error.
Your doctor may decide
to perform an ultrasound in addition to your mammogram. An ultrasound
consists of waves that create a picture of the breast. These then show
whether the mass/lump is filled with fluid which would indicate a cyst, or
whether they are solid.
Cancerous lumps are
usually solid lumps, Ultrasound technology can be used as a biopsy or for
the removal of fluid.
The only authoritative way to make a diagnosis of breast cancer with
absolute certainty is to biopsy the tissue which is causing concern. A
biopsy is done by removing a small sample of tissue via a very fine needle
from the suspect area. There are a number of biopsy techniques which can be
used.
One biopsy procedure is called a Fine needle aspiration. This involves
placing a needle into the breast tissue and extracting a certain amount of
cells which can then be examined by a pathologist. This technique is usually
used when a mass is identified as a cyst and is not likely to be cancer.
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Core needle biopsy is another type of biopsy using
fine needles. It consists of a unique needle which extracts a small
piece of tissue which can be examined for suspect cells. This test
is usually used in conjunction with ultrasound or mammogram.
If the mass can be easily felt by the doctor he may
remove the cells using a needle without any extra control. This
method is less invasive and patients find it more comfortable so it
is being used more frequently by surgeons. It also provides a sample
of tissue for testing rather than having to remove the entire lump.
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