|
Needle Biopsy
Linked to Breast Cancer Spread
(NY, Reuters Health, 6/24/04)
As reported in the Archives of Surgery (June 2004), Dr.
Nora M. Hansen of the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint
John's Health Center, Santa Monica, CA, and team, studied 663
women with breast cancer, half of whom had specimens taken
with a needle; while the rest had the tumors removed without
prior biopsy. The researchers found that women who had
undergone needle biopsies had a 50% greater risk of the cancer
spreading to the sentinel lymph node, thereby reducing the
subject’s chance of survival. These findings suggest that
disrupting a cancerous tumor with a needle may raise the risk
of it spreading. |
Article Summary