BREAST CANCER DIAGNOSIS METHODS
1-SELF-EXAMINATION: Starting from the age of 30, women should perform breast self-examination once a month. The examination should be performed every month, 4-5 days after the end of menstruation. In this examination, it should be checked whether there is a mass in the breast, the symmetry of the breast, skin change or skin depression, nipple retraction or nipple discharge.
2- DOCTOR'S EXAMINATION: No Starting from the age of 40, all women should have a breast examination by a breast surgeon once a year, even if they have no complaints.
3-BREAST IMAGING METHODS:
Mammography: Even if they have no complaints about their breasts, women aged 40 and over should have a mammogram once a year. In this way, breast cancer can be detected at a millimetric size before it reaches a size that can be detected by hand.
Ultrasonography: Images are obtained using sound waves. In young people with dense breast tissue, defects that cannot be detected on mammography can be noticed more easily on ultrasonography. For this reason, ultrasonography should be performed along with mammography.
Breast MRI: It is an imaging method that does not contain radiation and provides more information than other breast imaging methods. Dense breasts that are difficult to evaluate with mammography, high-risk young patients, breasts with surgery, and breasts with silicone prosthesis can be evaluated more safely with this method.
4-BIOPSY METHODS:
Fine Needle Biopsy (FNAB): It is a method of diagnosis by withdrawing fluid from the suspicious area of the breast with a fine needle and examining the cells in this fluid. Although it is easy to perform, cheap and has almost no side effects, it is not a preferred biopsy method in the diagnosis of breast masses due to the low rate of accurate diagnosis.
Tru-cut biopsy (Core biopsy): By using thicker special needles and a biopsy gun, 1 mm, not cells, from the suspicious area in the breast. 1cm thick. It is a biopsy method performed by taking breast tissue from the neck. . It is the most preferred breast biopsy method to make a correct diagnosis.
Vacuum Biopsy: It is a biopsy method used for the diagnosis of suspicious masses that are not seen on ultrasonography but only on mammography. In the procedure, a needle similar to a tru-cut needle is directed to the suspicious area in the breast, with its coordinates determined by the computer, and then a large number of biopsies are taken into the needle under continuous vacuum. This method, which has very high accuracy rates, can be applied in a limited number of centres. For this reason, it is a more expensive method than other biopsy methods.
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