Fine Needle Biopsy

*Since male breast cancer has different stages that a man can be diagnosed with that also means that there are different treatments for each diagnosis. The first step that a man would take is have a biopsy done, this is usually a common procedure that a doctor will do to get the information that they need to make a diagnosis. Along with the biopsy there are other surgeries that may be necessary. Chemotherapy is another treatment that is common for a man to do with breast cancer, but it may not be necessary for the lower stages. Then there is radiation and hormone therapy that could also be recommended after the chemotherapy, and possibly the only treatment that may be necessary. With each stage it may require more, but the biopsy is the first …show more content…
The easiest biopsy that a doctor can request is the fine needle aspiration biopsy. The name pretty much says it all, this procedure is done with a small hollow needle that goes into the questionable area taking a small amount of tissue to test. When this biopsy is done, they may or may not have an anesthesiologist present during the operation. The other biopsy is the core needle biopsy and with this procedure the needle is bigger than the fine needle aspiration biopsy would use. The core needle biopsy goes in and takes a small cylinder of tissue for the doctor to take a look at. With this biopsy it is done with an anesthesiologist present making the patient feel more comfortable (American Cancer Society, 2016). Once this biopsy is done the doctor will take the tissue and take a closer look under a microscope. Not all biopsies can just be done with a needle some require surgery, some require …show more content…
The options that a doctor has been an axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) or a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). The axillary lymph node biopsy is a procedure that goes in and takes out ten to forty lymph nodes, but they usually will not take out more than twenty. This is a common procedure that doctors use to see if the cancer has spread, and often this procedure is used after they do a needle biopsy or a sentinel lymph node biopsy. The axillary lymph node biopsy procedure is a safe operation with low risks, but it does increase the chances of the patient getting lymphedema. Doctors like to avoid this so in some cases they will do a sentinel lymph node biopsy and take fewer lymph nodes out than they would with the axillary lymph node biopsy (American Cancer Society, 2016). With these operations that inject a blue dye into the area around the tumor, this dye will spread within a few hours. When the dye is spread the surgeon will go in and take out a few of the blue lymph nodes and then a pathologist will look at them. Once the doctor knows that the patient indeed does have breast cancer they will start giving the patient some treatment options, and what they need to prepare