PINK Breast Center offers both Stereotactic (mammography guided) and Ultrasound-Guided Breast Biopsies. Our physicians have performed biopsies for decades.
After you’ve received a digital mammography or ultrasound with PINK Breast Center or another provider, your radiologist might recommend a breast biopsy. A suspicious-looking spot on your imaging results is usually the culprit. There can be no definitive diagnosis before a breast biopsy. In a breast biopsy, the PINK doctor will collect a tiny sample so a Pathologist can determine (by DNA and other methods) the actual nature of the problem in the area of concern. That finding will then help determine what treatment can be most effective for you. Since your breast tissue will be numbed for the procedure, this procedure is painless.
A breast biopsy is a removal of a small amount of breast tissue for further testing. There are three ways that your doctor can remove the tissue: a fine-needle aspiration, a core-needle biopsy, and a surgical biopsy. A fine-needle aspiration is the least invasive of the biopsy procedures; your doctor numbs your breast tissue and uses a tiny needle to remove fluid from a lump within your breast. For a core-needle biopsy, a wider needle is used to remove tissue from within the breast. The final option, a surgical biopsy, is also the most invasive; it is performed by a surgeon in a hospital setting. Your surgeon would make a small incision in your breast to remove a suspicious lump and some surrounding tissue, to send to a Pathologist.
Before Your Biopsy
If a PINK Breast Center doctor has recommended a biopsy, we will contact you to schedule the procedure.
If you come to PINK through another doctor, our radiologist will first review your films then speak with you to plan the biopsy. You can bring your studies yourself or sign a release for us to get them from another center to plan your biopsy. If your mammography or scan reveals anything suspicious, it is in your best interest to schedule a breast biopsy as soon as possible.
After Your Biopsy
PINK will send the breast tissue sample you provided to a pathology laboratory. There, a trained Pathologist will examine your tissue sample for evidence of abnormal molecular growth. The findings from this examination will then be sent back to PINK and your referring doctor who can discuss the results with you in detail. This part of the process can take weeks, during which time you might be nervous, but it allows you and your doctor to get a better understanding of what is going on inside your breast tissue.
Your Results
You will be notified of your results by our physician or clinical coordinator by phone and in writing. If further care is necessary, we will work with you and your doctor to find a treatment that works for you and is covered under your insurance plan.
PINK Breast Center is here for you if you need a mammogram or breast biopsy. Women can trust us to provide quality care as well as kindness and support. Contact PINK today to schedule a consultation.