[Core biopsy in the preoperative diagnosis of breast carcinoma].

BACKGROUND

In spite of the widespread use of cytological smears for the diagnosis of breast cancer lesions, many surgeons are still reluctant to accept the cytological report as the only criterion for performing definitive surgery. Modern surgical strategy requires a preoperative planning of the surgical treatment which is possible with the use of core biopsy (CB) or FNB (fine needle biopsy) for the diagnosis of tissue specimens.

METHODS

The authors report their five-year experience with this technique and evaluate its diagnostic usefulness and substitution of interoperative biopsy. The histological examination of 92 palpable breast lesions, clinically and mammographically detected, was performed with CB, and diagnosis was confirmed with the surgical sample in 80 cases.

RESULTS

A definitive histological diagnosis was obtained with CB in 90% of cases. Only nine cases required confirmation with frozen section diagnosis at the time of definitive surgery. The sensibility of CB was 93%, specificity and predictive value of a positive result were 100%, and diagnostic efficiency was 95%.

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirms the usefulness of the systematic use of CB for accurate preoperative diagnosis of breast cancer, and the simplicity, safety and accuracy of this method also make ultrasound-guided CB applicable to non-palpable lesions.