title: Fine needle aspiration biopsy, core needle biopsy or excision biopsy to diagnose breast cancer - which is the ideal method?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The ideal method for diagnosis of breast cancer is debatable.
  
  
  METHODS
  The methods of diagnosis of 436 new cases of breast adenocarcinoma presenting from Jan 2005 till Dec 2006 at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) were examined in this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 388 cases presented to the breast unit in UMMC primarily and 48 cases were diagnosed in non-breast units in other hospitals and referred for management. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) was the commonest mode of initial diagnosis in 278 cases followed by core needle biopsy and surgical excision. In UMMC, FNAC was the commonest initial method (68.3%) compared to cases diagnosed outside UMMC, where 37.5% of cases were diagnosed by excision. Tumours less than 2cm were more likely to be diagnosed by excision biopsy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The biopsy method used to confirm the diagnosis is influenced by where the patient first presents, and by the size of the tumour.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Surgery, University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Teck-Meng
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Tham
authors.forename: Krishnan Rangaswamy
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Iyengar
authors.forename: Nur Aishah
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Taib
authors.forename: Cheng-Har
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Yip
mesh_terms: D000232:Adenofibroma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy / Q000379:methods*; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult