Breast Cancer Diagnosis

There are several methods to confirm the diagnosis. Cyst puncture is a simple and frequently performed procedure. Detection of a cyst filled with typical greenish contents and the disappearance of signs of a tumor after puncture suggests that a cancer case is extremely unlikely.

Aspiration cytology of dense tumor formations is widely used as a reliable diagnostic procedure. It is possible to conduct a histological analysis, the results of which can be used for prognostic purposes. In the case of doubt, a larger tissue sample can be taken with a needle biopsy using Tra-cut or another needle, which gives a tissue column sufficient for histological analysis.

If a diagnosis cannot be made after this, an excisional biopsy should be performed. It is unreasonable to conduct a mastectomy without familiarizing the patient with the conclusion and possible methods of primary treatment of the tumor.

Mammography is widely used to confirm the diagnosis. Usually, carcinoma looks quite characteristic, with a visible thin zone of calcification and distinct areas of irregular darkening. Sometimes visible fixation of the tumor to the skin or chest wall. Currently, the maximum dose to the mammary gland during mammography is reduced to 3 mGy, which is equivalent to 10 standard chest x-ray sessions.

Now there is no need to reduce the time of the survey due to the fear of overexposure. Moreover, usually the dose load on the mammary gland is even lower. For example, the average dose on the most modern equipment in our clinic is only 0.8 mGy. Mammography is particularly informative when it is necessary to exclude the presence of synchronous primary tumors in the mammary gland, which is especially important when choosing a method of operation.