Can core biopsy spill & seed cancer cells

Anonymous · February 2018

juliezhd · February 2018

I went in for an ultrasound last week for some lumps I have felt on my breast and they found an ill-defined mass with shadowing that they have ordered a core biopsy for now. I am really scared its going to be bc, but I am also very concerned about if it is bc, the biopsy could spill cancer cells and have it spread. My mom had a different type of cancer, but the doctor spilled cancer cells and caused her cancer to spread all over her body. Does anyone have any information about this & how they prevent this from occurring or is there another way to make a diagnosis that would be safer?

gb2115 · February 2018

I asked my surgeon about this (I was worried about it too), and she said that breast cancer cells move very slowly. So if some of the cells made it into the needle track from the biopsy, it's either removed via mastectomy, or the rogue cells are killed during radiation if you have a lumpectomy.

MelissaDallas · February 2018

https://community.breastcancer.org/blog/what-my-pa...

Moderators · February 2018

Thanks, MelissaDallas, we were just about to post that as well.

juliezhd · February 2018

Thank you for your response MelissaDallas and gb2115. I also wonder about cancer cells spilling outside of the needled track, like when they take the pieces of tissue from the mass. I would imagine it would cause some bleeding inside the breast from the mass site. Couldn't this cause the cancer cells to spread into your blood system & make it travel to other organs? Do you or anyone else have any answers or info about this?

MelissaDallas · February 2018

No.

kohisee · February 2018

I've had an ultrasound too, and lumps were found. Decided not to have an autopsy. I wouldn't have chemo and radiation anyway... so I rather not know if it's cancer. However, I tune everything in my food/supplement regimen into treating breast cancer. I already eat healthily and know about supplements... it's a matter of finetuning.

I googled and came accross an article that says a study found biopsy does cause metastasis, but for some reason I'm "not allowed to post links at this time" (that sort of note appeared).

Copy these and add the w w w... before them, so you'll get to read the pages:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4015162/

dcawatch.com/surgery-biopsies-causes-metastasis/

djmammo · February 2018

juliezhd

I have performed thousands of breast biopsies over the years at the request of breast surgeons in different parts of the country. If biopsies spread cancer I am sure they would not have been asking me to perform so many of them, and additionally, I imagine I would have seen some evidence of it at one point or another over the past few decades.

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That being said, when performing a pre-op wire localization for a lumpectomy, it is a generally accepted practice to place the wire in the breast along the biopsy needle tract using the same point of entry at the skin as the biopsy. That way the tumor and the biopsy tract can both be removed en bloc thus decreasing the chances of retaining cells that may have seeded the tract. Some say its superstitious behavior, I say it couldn't hurt.

bew66 · February 2018

Kohisee, I'm wondering why you bothered to have a screening, if you already know you will not treat any cancer if it is found? Not being snarky, just truly curious. I have a younger, half sister, whom I have encouraged to be vigilant with screenings, but she refuses all cancer screenings, (colonoscopy, mammograms, and pap smears) because she doesn't plan to treat any cancers that may occur. I wish she would do screenings, but I understand and respect her feelings about it, but I don't understand your rationale for having an ultrasound, if you aren't going to treat or even biopsy suspicious findings?

marie5890 · February 2018

Bew66, Im thinking that perhaps Kohisee may choose to have surgery, even if she forgoes chemo and rads? Though she does say she would not have a biopsy (though she wrote "autopsy" Im guessing she misspoke)

Just a guess.

Beesie · February 2018

“Decided not to have an autopsy"

kohisee, I'd say that's a good thing.

The good news is that most breast lumps are not breast cancer. So the odds are that you don't have cancer.

But if you do, while I understand your concerns about chemo and radiation - many women diagnosed with breast cancer share those concerns - would you even refuse to have surgery to remove the cancer from your body?

As for diet and supplements, if you do have breast cancer, it developed despite your healthy habits. Therefore why would you think that fine-tuning your food/supplement regimen would be all that's necessary to kill off the cancer that managed to develop while you were already doing all the right things?

Beesie · February 2018

By the way, kohisee, did you read the NIH article that you referenced? (And not just the biased interpretation by DCA Watch)? The conclusion in the NIH article is that there is not enough information to know if seeding is a concern, and biopsies and aspirations are the “gold standard" and are “time tested practices". It goes on to say that the practices suggested in the article, similar to what djmammo mentioned in his post, may make biopsies risk proof.

Can core biopsy spill & seed cancer cells

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