[New and old procedures in the diagnosis of dubious breast lesions]

In the last years the detection of early breast cancers (lesions less than one centimetre in diameter, with good prognosis) has consistently increased for the wide application of mammary screening programs. At the same time, an increasing number of radiographically detected unexpected lesions (nonpalpable breast lesions) has been evidenced. In those cases, often both mammography and ultrasound evaluation are dubious and a multidisciplinary diagnostic approach is mandatory. Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and core biopsy (CB) are well established diagnostic methods but, in recent years, new microinvasive bioptic procedures (as the Mammotome and the ABBI systems) have been introduced. In this review the limits and the possibilities of the classical and new cytohistological techniques are evaluated. A possible multistep diagnostic approach is described on a cost-benefit basis and in consideration of the various procedures.