New Biopsy Technique is Safe and Effective.

2001 MAY 10 - (NewsRx Network) -- A new ultrasound-guided biopsy technique allows a radiologist to remove all or nearly all of a mass in the breast thus helping to better diagnose whether the mass is cancer or not.

The new technique could eventually be applicable to half or more of the women who undergo ultrasound-guided core biopsies.

A study of 61 patients at the Hopital du Saint-Sacrement in Canada found that the Mammotome breast biopsy technique is accurate, has a very low complication rate, and is well accepted and tolerated by the patient, says Nathalie Duchesne, MD.

"It is known that core biopsies have a false negative rate of about 1.4% for masses," Duchesne told the American Roentgen Ray Society on April 30, 2001, at its annual meeting. That means that about one out of every 100 women biopsied is being told that her lesion is benign when it really is malignant, she says.

"Because the Mammotone removes all or nearly all of the lesion, we can avoid that error; the Mammotome is equivalent to having the lesion surgically removed," says Duchesne.

Fifty-five percent of the patients in the study had their lesion completely removed using the Mammotome technique.

The Mammotome uses a vacuum, Duchesne explains. The biopsy needle is inserted underneath the lesion only once, and the lesion is removed. The core biopsy, which is spring loaded, requires multiple needle insertions. The spring-loaded device makes a loud noise when the needle is inserted and this can be disconcerting to the patient; the Mammotome just makes a hum, says Duchesne.