Are breast biopsy and large pathology results the same?

Jul 21, 2025 Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Zhang Lu
Introduction
In general, breast biopsy pathology results may be consistent with those of the final surgical pathology, but some discrepancies may exist, requiring comprehensive clinical interpretation. Due to the limited sample size obtained through biopsy, sampling errors may occur (e.g., failure to obtain representative lesion tissue), leading to discordant results between biopsy and surgical pathology in certain cases, such as when the biopsy indicates benign findings while the surgical pathology reveals malignancy.

Generally, breast biopsy pathology results may be consistent with those of the final surgical pathology, but certain discrepancies may exist, requiring comprehensive clinical evaluation. Detailed analysis is as follows:

Breast biopsy pathology involves obtaining a small tissue sample via fine or core needle biopsy to preliminarily determine the nature of the lesion, such as benign or malignant and its type. Its advantages include minimal invasiveness and rapid diagnostic capability, making it an essential basis for preoperative assessment. In contrast, surgical pathology involves comprehensive examination of the entire excised lesion and surrounding tissues, enabling more accurate determination of tumor size, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, and molecular subtypes, thereby providing more comprehensive information for staging and treatment planning.

Due to the limited sample size obtained via biopsy, sampling errors may occur (e.g., failure to obtain representative lesion tissue), leading to discrepancies between biopsy and surgical pathology results in some cases. For example, a biopsy may indicate a benign lesion while surgical pathology reveals malignancy. Therefore, biopsy results can serve as a preliminary diagnostic reference, but final diagnosis and treatment decisions should be based on surgical pathology findings.

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