Open surgical breast biopsy

Abstract

Background : open biopsy has been considered the gold standard in establishing or ruling out carcinoma of the breast. Women suspected of having breast cancer are usually referred for breast biopsy to determine whether the lesion is benign or malignant and whether further treatment is needed.
Purpose: to analyse the results of open surgical breast biopsies of 2 years interval
Methods: Patients who underwent lumpectomy, wide local excision and incisional biopsy of a breast mass in Al- Karama Teaching Hospital / Wasit Governorate from January 2009 through December 2010 were included in the study.
Results: A total of 70 patients with 70 open biopsies were identified and analysed. The mean age was 32.5 years. Within the malignant group the average age was 45.25 years. Out of the 70 biopsies included; 30 (42.85%) were malignant,13(18.62%) were fibroadenoma,11(15.70%) were fibrocystic disease, 7(10%) were of duct ectasia, 3(4.28%) were fibroploreferative disease and 6 (8.5%) were of another pathology. Conclusions: The rate of malignancy in open breast biopsies increases with age reaching a peak in forties. We recommend that all women above the age of 40 presenting with a palpable breast lump to have their lump excised even though the lump is suspected to be benign.