Ask the Breast Cancer Expert

Dr. Regina Hampton is a Board Certified General Surgeon with a special interest and established expertise in benign and malignant breast disease. Dr. Hampton is certified by the American Board of Surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Question :

Dr. Hampton, how should I prepare for my biopsy? Camille, 41, Atlanta, Georgia

Answer:

Camille,

If your doctor suspects you may have breast cancer or wants to confirm that you don’t, you’ll probably be scheduled for a biopsy, a procedure in which some breast tissue is extracted and analyzed for cancerous cells.

Keep these helpful hints in mind as you go in for your biopsy appointment:

• Not all biopsies are the same; some can be done with a needle with local anesthesia in the doctor’s office while others require a small surgery. Ask your doctor’s office which kind you’ll be having.
• If you are having the surgical kind, have a friend bring you in and drive you home again.
• Don’t panic. Remember, being sent for a biopsy does not mean that you have cancer. It's just a more accurate way of checking any suspicious cells to see whether they are malignant (cancerous) or benign (not cancerous). Three-quarters of biopsies done as a result of your doctor feeling a lump in your breast turn out to be not cancerous.
   

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