Breast biopsy rates unchanged

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

According to a study, breast biopsy rates have remained stable over the last 12 years as the use of mammography has increased.
Breast biopsy has become a less invasive procedure than previously. And increased use of mammography often leads to a need for a biopsy to investigate an abnormal result. Taken together, these two advances might be expected to lead to more breast biopsies taking place. To find out, doctors at the Mayo Clinic have looked into the frequency of breast biopsy.

They looked at women's medical records from 1988 through to 1999 in the local area. The frequency of breast biopsy has remained about the same at a rate of around 62.6 per cent per 10,000 women. The biopsy technique used has, however, switched in favor of the less invasive core-needle biopsy. This should benefit women because it is less traumatic. However, the findings suggest that there are still, perhaps, too many false positive results from mammography, resulting in unnecessary investigations and anxiety.

Source
Archives of Internal Medicine 25th July 2005 Volume 165 pages 1593-1598

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