Breast Biopsy

Biopsy

A biopsy removes a very small amount of tissue from your body so that it can be looked at under a microscope. A biopsy is the only way to know for sure if the tissue has cancer or other abnormal cells.

Care teams perform biopsy on patients under local anesthesia. That means that, before the biopsy, your care team will numb the area with a medication. This reduces any pain and discomfort. Then, a member of your care team will put a needle into the area. They use the needle to remove a sample of breast tissue. You will be awake throughout the procedure.

There are several types of breast biopsy procedures. All involve taking a tissue sample, but there are different methods for finding the area in your breast for biopsy.

The type of biopsy done will depend on the location and size of the breast abnormality.

The types include:

• Stereotactic biopsy uses a mammogram machine to find the area to biopsy.
• Ultrasound-guided biopsy uses an ultrasound machine to find the area to biopsy.
• MRI-guided biopsy uses an MRI machine to find the area to biopsy.