Hello bOObs Bloggettes:
We’re now in the second week of Breast Cancer (BC) Awareness Month. I thought this blog might be good to repost as women seem very interested in this…and it’s a very unexpected outcome. Here we go:
This is another one of those topics that is little frightening to hear, but one I feel women (and men) should be aware of prior to this procedure: When women are sent for a biopsy following a suspicious breast cancer screening, there is a chance that the biopsy itself may set cancer metastasis in motion. Let’s look at how this happens.
Biopsies can be conducted two ways: extracting tissue samples from the breast through a needle for examination under a microscope, or excising via surgery the entire tumor or suspicious area from the breast (i.e., lumpectomy) and then examining it. Excising the tumor is the way they used to conduct biopsies in the past, but this is dangerous due to infections, etc. So they came up with the idea of “less invasive” needle biopsies.
Granted, surgeons can miss some of the tumor they are excising if they don’t get “clean margins”. But with needle biopsies another problem exists, and that is “seeding” the cancer along the needle’s track. If a cancer is “seeded” during biopsy, it has the potential to start another tumor elsewhere in the body.
A 2014 citation says this after looking at several case studies: “…after diagnostic biopsy of a tumor, many patients developed cancer at multiple sites and showed the presence of circulating cancer cells in the blood stream…”
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) says that “Tumor seeding or needle seeding refers to rare occurrences when the needle inserted into a tumor during a biopsy dislodges and spreads cancer cells.” However, here is another opinion: “Biopsies of breast cancer appeared to be most prone to needle track tumor seeding, with up to 22 % of the patients affected in seven studies…” The latter’s authors continued by assuaging the readers fears, saying that not all needle seeding will end in metastasis due to the immune system’s defense on such escaped cancer cells. But still, 22% exemplified a seeding possibility.
In arguing about which type of needle biopsy is best, this came out in another study: “Core-needle biopsy of breast cancer is associated with a higher rate of distant metastases 5 to 15 years after diagnosis than FNA biopsy.”
A study conducted by the John Wayne Cancer Institute showed that a needle biopsy may increase the spread of cancer in patients when compared to others who receive excisional biopsies (lumpectomies).
bOObs BOTTOM LINE: I wanted women to be aware that if they have the choice between a lumpectomy and a biopsy they should probably weigh out the risks of both procedures with their doctor first.
FYI: About 75% of biopsies end in a false positive (benign mass), so make sure you really need one in the first place. Think about using thermography as a tool to avoid this procedure if possible (see previous blogs) and always consider getting a second or third opinion if suspected to have breast cancer — or any type of cancer for that matter.
Blog at you soon, thanks for reading and helping to spread the word! (Please see the “share” links below.) And we’d love to hear comments from you! (see below as well)
Stay healthy,
Megan
Megan Smith, M.S.
Director, bOObs: The War on Women’s Breasts
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