State of the art of minimally invasive breast biopsy: principles and practice

In the last two decades, the increasing use of screening mammography with the early detection of breast cancer and the newly gained understanding of the biology and changing therapy of breast cancer, emphasizing systemic therapy and minimizing extensive local surgery, has contributed to the increasing development of minimally invasive techniques for the diagnosis of breast lesions. Minimally invasive techniques provide increased patient comfort, excellent cosmetic result and minimal morbidity They are also responsible for decreased costs and better medical care by allowing an informed discussion of breast cancer therapy and planning of surgery with an emphasis on negative margins and the dissection of the sentinel node. Techniques in use include Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology, Core-Needle biopsy, Vacuum-Assisted Core biopsy (Mammotome) and Large Core biopsy (ABBI, Site-select). We present a balanced, evidence-based approach to the diagnosis of patients with palpable or mammographic abnormalities.