Most women with breast cancer should undergo a needle biopsy, but surgeons often opt for a more invasive procedure.
The findings suggest surgeons should be better-trained and encouraged to opt for a needle procedure, Reuters reported.
"Needle biopsy really is the standard of care," said senior study author Dr. Benjamin D. Smith of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, told Reuters.
"Having a three or four centimeter (surgical) incision in the skin is going to hurt more and take longer to heal than inserting a needle," he said. "Excisional biopsy has more complications than needle biopsy."
When a physical test or mammogram detects a suspicious lump in a patients' breast the next step is taking a sample of the lump for testing.
Medical staff can use and ultrasound to guide a needle to the lump or could opt for an "open biopsy" in which an incision is made.
Researchers believe a needle biopsy could protect the patient from having to undergo two surgeries, one to identify the cancer and one to remove it.
The researchers looked at the diagnostic histories of 90,000 women using Medicare data. The women looked at in the study were at least 66 years old and had undergone " breast-conserving surgery and radiation," Reuters reported.
Out of the women who consulted with their surgeons before biopsy, only 54 percent were given a needle biopsy. Women who did not undergo a needle biopsy were twice as likely to undergo multiple surgeries as those who did.
"This paper is an interesting example of how important it is for cancer patients to be treated by experienced surgeons and in higher volume institutions," said Dr. Dawn L. Hershman, leader of the Breast Cancer Program at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center of Columbia University Medical Center in New York. Hershman was not a part of the new study, told Reuters.
"Both a needle biopsy and an excisional biopsy can diagnose the cancer, however, the attention to margins, the evaluation of the lymph nodes and the evaluation for other possible abnormalities in the breast prior to going to the operating room can save the patient needing multiple surgeries," she said.
