Lumpectomy

Kmtmom1

I have a lumpectomy scheduled for Tues. I had my annual 6mo mammo Tues and all was clear. My Dr felt a lump in my rt breast and sent me for an u/s. Nothing showed there either. Had an MRI today that showed mildly suspicious areas of enhancements in both breasts. My rt is the place we are feeling. It's a round pea sized lump about 1cm and is slightly moveable. I've had a biopsy before that came back benign, so I'm confused as to why we are having both lumps removed instead of just doing a biopsy. Makes me worried the Dr thinks it is something. Any advice appreciated!

Does anyone know how many lumpectomies come back cancerous? Like a percentage? Just trying to get my odds here.

LisaAlissa

Hi Kmtmom1!

Sorry to see that you need to be here...it sounds like your lumpectomy is actually the biopsy this time around.

Some facilities/docs would call your procedure an "excisional biopsy"--the surgical procedure is the same as a lumpectomy. The major (only?) difference is that an excisional biopsy will result in both a diagnosis and a removal of the lump, while a lumpectomy (which is performed after another diagnostic procedure) just removes the tumor (although, of course, there would be a second pathology report on the removed tissue).

There are lots of reasons to choose one type of biopsy over another. Placement (in the breast) of the lump, size, etc. Number of biopsies needed in a small area? Why your doc decided to not do other (less invasive) biopsies first is a question for your doc.

On the odds. For each of us, the result of a biopsy is either positive or negative. However on a population basis, approximately 80% of all biopsies have a benign result. So your chances are probably pretty good.

HTH,

LisaAlissa