Breast cancer is suspected when a lump or thickening in a breast is felt during breast self-examination. Other symptoms that may lead to suspicion are a lump in the armpit area, scaly skin on the breast, nipple discharges other than milk. These symptoms do not always mean that there is cancer; but once any of these is detected, the person is strongly recommended to visit a doctor for examination.
A doctor will confirm the presence of a lump. A breast specialist recommends the patient undergo a breast biopsy to remove these lumps. If you want to know more about excisional breast biopsy visit www.drsandrakrishnan.com.au/excisional-biopsy.
This is the procedure where a sample tissue from the suspicious lump is taken. This can be done either by surgical (invasive) or non-surgical (non-invasive) means. In a surgical biopsy, sample tissues are taken after an incision is made on the skin.
Sometimes, if the lump is small, the entire lump may be removed. Non-surgical procedures include fine-needle aspiration biopsy, core needle biopsy, and vacuum-assisted breast biopsy. Both fine needle aspiration biopsy and core needle biopsy employ the use of a needle to collect sample tissues. More samples are also extracted through this procedure.
