Breast Biopsy and Ablation

Abstract Screening mammography has been shown to decrease the mortality from breast cancer by as much as 40% when screening women annually beginning at age 40. Since the initial implementation of mammography, breast imaging has evolved to include numerous other imaging modalities, including full-field digital mammography, digital breast tomosynthesis, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, gamma imaging of the breast referred to as both molecular breast imaging and breast-specific gamma imaging, as well as contrast-enhanced spatial mammography. The goal of these technologic advances is to detect small, early-stage breast cancer, thus providing patients with the best chance of cure with the least amount of treatment-associated morbidity. With the increasing use of mammography and the detection of small, indeterminate lesions, the need for minimally invasive approaches for tissue acquisition has also increased to allow for definitive pathologic assessment. However, with the detection of smaller lesions comes the challenge of developing methods for tissue acquisition that are accurate, cost-effective, and safe, particularly because approximately 80% of breast biopsies result in a benign finding.