Finding a lump in your breast can be scary. Although there are several different causes for lumpiness, your mind might jump right to the big C: breast cancer.
Cancer is often the first thing your doctor will try to rule out if you find a lump. A physical examination can help assess breast cancer risk, and help determine whether or not the lump is cancerous. Cancerous lumps are often — but not always — hard, not movable, and don’t change during the menstrual cycle. Benign lumps may or may not be tender to the touch, movable, or change during the menstrual cycle.
A physical examination may not be conclusive! Your doctor may request additional tests, like an ultrasound, mammogram, or biopsy. Imaging scans can reveal whether a lump is solid or filled with liquid, and reveal lumps that may be too small to be noticed on a physical examination.
A biopsy is the removal of fluid or tissue from a lump for analysis. For breast lumps, one very common type of biopsy is a fine-needle aspiration. This is a non-surgical procedure — it can be performed without anesthesia in a doctor’s office.
Before you have a biopsy, you may want to ask a few questions. For example:
- Why are you ordering a biopsy?
- What kind of biopsy do you want me to have?
- What are my other testing options (if any)?
- Who will do the biopsy, and where?
- What happens before, during, and after the procedure?
- Is this an inpatient or an outpatient procedure? What kind of care will I need afterwards? Will any activities be restricted?
- How long will I be waiting for results?
- What happens if a biopsy shows that I do have breast cancer?
- How much will this procedure cost?
You may not want to play the what-if game until after the results are back… you might waste a lot of time and energy worrying over a benign lump.